The detection of fungi contaminating maize grain and the effect of four plant extracts Azadirachta indica, Eucalyptus globulus Glycyrrhiza glabra and Zingiber officinale on the growth of A. flavus and its ability to produce AflatoxinB1. The results showed that the incidence of Aspergillus spp., was 52.75% of the isolated fungi, of which 29.50% was due to Aspergillus flavus, followed by Penicillium spp., with an incidence of 21.06%, and then Fusarium spp., with a rate of 18.13%. The percentage of toxin-producing A. flavus isolates reached 70.8% out of 24 isolates. The results showed the effect of alcoholic plant extracts at a concentration of 10 mg/ml on the fungal growth activity of A. flavus, the alcoholic extract of neem leaves was superior to the alcoholic extract with an inhibition rate of 92.79% than that of the control treatment, followed by ginger extract with an inhibition of 60.14%, then eucalyptus extract with a medium inhibition rate of 53.88%. While the licorice extract showed a weak inhibition rate of 17.77 %. The lowest inhibitory concentration for the growth of the fungus for neem extract was 24 mg/ml. While the lowest inhibitory concentration of ginger extract was 48 mg/ml, while eucalyptus and licorice extract did not achieve complete inhibition of fungal growth despite using a concentration higher than 48 mg/ml for both types. The results indicated that the neem plant extract inhibited the production of AFB1 toxin in YES media by 100% at a concentration of 12 mg/ml, followed by ginger extract at a concentration of 24 mg/ml, while the eucalyptus extract achieved a complete inhibition of AFB1 production at the last concentration (48 mg/ml). The extract of licorice plant did not show a complete inhibition of toxin production, as the highest percentage of inhibition was 39.98% at a concentration of 48 mg/ml.
Non-thermal or cold plasma create many reactive species and charged particles when brought into contact with plant extracts. The major constituents involve reactive oxygen species, reactive nitrogen species and plasma ultra-violets. These species can be used to synthesize biologically important nanoparticles. The current study addressed the effect of the green method-based preparation approach on the volumetric analysis of Zn nanoparticles. Under different operating conditions, the traditional thermal method and the microwave method as well as the plasma generation in dielectric barrier discharge reactor were adopted as a preparation approach in this study. The results generally show that the type of method used plays an important rol
... Show MoreNonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are drugs that help reduce inflammation, which often helps to relieve pain. In this research new ibuprofen oxothiazolidnone derivatives were synthesized from the reaction of Schiff base derivatives of Ibuprofen with mercapto acetic acid VI a-c, to improve the potency and to decrease the drug's potential side effects, a new series of 4-thiazolidinone derivatives of ibuprofen was synthesized VI a-c . The characterizations of the compounds were identified by using FTIR, 1HNMR technique and by measuring the physical properties.
Nuclear emission rates for nucleon-induced reactions are theoretically calculated based on the one-component exciton model that uses state density with non-Equidistance Spacing Model (non-ESM). Fair comparison is made from different state density values that assumed various degrees of approximation formulae, beside the zeroth-order formula corresponding to the ESM. Calculations were made for 96Mo nucleus subjected to (N,N) reaction at Emax=50 MeV. The results showed that the non-ESM treatment for the state density will significantly improve the emission rates calculated for various exciton configurations. Three terms might suffice a proper calculation, but the results kept changing even for ten terms. However, five terms is found to give
... Show MoreThe paper uses the Direct Synthesis (DS) method for tuning the Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) controller for controlling the DC servo motor. Two algorithms are presented for enhancing the performance of the suggested PID controller. These algorithms are Back-Propagation Neural Network and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). The performance and characteristics of DC servo motor are explained. The simulation results that obtained by using Matlab program show that the steady state error is eliminated with shorter adjusted time when using these algorithms with PID controller. A comparative between the two algorithms are described in this paper to show their effectiveness, which is found that the PSO algorithm gives be
... Show MoreThe consumption of fossil fuels has caused many challenges, including environmental and climate damage, global warming, and rising energy costs, which has prompted seeking to substitute other alternative sources. The current study explored the microwave pyrolysis of Albizia branches to assess its potential to produce all forms of fuel (solid, liquid, gas), time savings, and effective thermal heat transfer. The impact of the critical parameters on the quantity and quality of the biofuel generation, including time, power levels, biomass weight, and particle size, were investigated. The results revealed that the best bio-oil production was 76% at a power level of 450 W and 20 g of biomass. Additionally, low power levels led to enhanced
... Show MoreBackground: Bacteriocin is a peptidic toxin has many advantages to bacteria in their ecological niche and has strong antibacterial activity. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluation of bacteriocin using Streptococcus sanguinis isolated from human dental caries.
Subjects and Methods: Thirty five streptococcus isolates were diagnosed and tested for their production of bacteriocin, and then the optimal conditions for production of bacteriocin were determined. After that, the purification of bacteriocin was made partially by ammonium sulfate at 95% saturation levels, followed by and gel filtration chromatography
... Show MoreDue to the wide distribution through the Iranian Plateau, especially in its western parts adjacent to Iraq’s northeastern borders, the occurrence of Brandt’s Hedgehog