The bacterial contamination of lipsticks and face cream may become a great important matter in the medical laboratories. The present study was designed to determine the types of bacterial contamination in the face cream and lipsticks of undergraduate students. Also, the study aimed to determine the sensitivity of the isolated bacteria against many antibacterial agents. The study included 190 swabs samples from 190 face cream and lipsticks samples of the females’ students from five departments in the Medical Technology Institute, Almansour, Middle Technical University were collected in February 2018. The swab samples were collected with sterile condition and cultured on enriched Blood agar and MacConkey agar. Serial dilutions were made up to 10−6 to enumerate the suspected present bacteria in the samples. The identification of isolated bacteria was confirmed by using culture media, Gram stain and biochemical tests. The sensitivity test of the isolated bacteria to different antibiotics was examined according to Bauer - Kirby disc diffusion method. 100 (52.63%) samples were positive; 100 isolates of bacteria were isolated from makeup. Also, the percentage of bacterial isolates isolated from the face cream samples were more than the lipsticks (85% vs. 15%, respectively). The most frequent bacterial isolates were Staphylococcus aureus (66.66% from lipstick swabs and 47.05% from the face cream) followed by Staphylococcus epidermidis (13.33 from the lipstick and 23.52% from the face cream). Also, Escherichia coli was isolated and the percentage of E. coli was 13.33% and 11.76%, for the lipstick and the face cream, respectively. Pseudomonas aeruginosa showed a high resistance to the antibiotics. Whereas, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Escherichia coli, Streptococcus pyogenes, Bacillus subtilis, Micrococcus spp. and Proteus mirabilis were susceptible to Cephalothin and Ciprofloxacin, while it resistant to Amikacin, Cefazolin and Cefotaxime. The bacterial counts in the makeup were higher than the bacterial limits standards. The lipstick and face cream were relatively contaminated with Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria more than the standard limit, these contaminated accessories lead to distribute the pathogenic bacteria among the students causing several diseases.
Expanded use of antibiotics may increase the ability of pathogenic bacteria to develop antimicrobial resistance. Greater attention must be paid to applying more sustainable techniques for treating wastewater contaminated with antibiotics. Semiconductor photocatalytic processes have proven to be the most effective methods for the degradation of antibiotics. Thus, constructing durable and highly active photocatalytic hybrid materials for the photodegradation of antibiotic pollutants is challenging. Herein, FeTiO3/Fe-doped g-C3N4 (FTO/FCN) heterojunctions were designed with different FTO to FCN ratios by matching the energy level of semiconductors, thereby developing effective direct Z-type heterojunctions. The photodegradation behaviors of th
... Show MoreIntroduction: Cutaneous leishmaniasis is considered a parasitic contagion resulting from the flagellated parasite belonging to the genus of Leishmania. Also, cutaneous leishmaniasis is a zoonotic ailment transmitted through the bloodsucking sand-flies bite (belonging to the Phlebotomus genus). The disease's reservoirs included wild or semi-domesticated animals, in general rodents and dogs. Tissue inhibitor metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) is one of the extracellular matrix proteins that have a role in vessel wall degeneration and aneurysm development. In addition, it belongs to the zinc-dependent endopeptidases family that are involved in the degradation of connective tissues proteins which are included in vascular integrity maintenance. The Ge
... Show MoreBackground: The anticancer impact of Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) the highly active polyphenol of green tea was abundantly studied. Though, the exact mechanism of its cytotoxicity is still under investigation. Objectives: Hence, the current study designed to investigate the molecular target of EGCG in HepG2 cells on thirteen autophagy- and/or apoptosis- related genes. Methods: The apoptosis detection analyses such as flow cytometry and dual apoptosis assay were used. The genes expression profile was explored by the real-time quantitative-PCR. Results: EGCG increases G0/G1 cell cycle arrest and the real-time apoptosis markers proteins leading to stimulate apoptos
... Show MoreObjectives This work presents laser coating of grade 1 pure titanium (Ti) dental implant surface with sintered biological apatite beta-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP), which has a chemical composition close to bone. Materials and methods Pulsed Nd:YAG laser of single pulse capability up to 70 J/10 ms and pulse peak power of 8 kW was used to implement the task. Laser pulse peak power, pulse duration, repetition rate and scanning speed were modulated to achieve the most homogenous, cohesive and highly adherent coat layer. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray microscopy (EDX), optical microscopy and nanoindentation analyses were conducted to characterise and evaluate the microstructure, phases, modulus of elasticity
... Show MoreThis study presents a novel, custom‑built fluorescence detector for the precise determination of chloride and iodide ions based on their quenching effect on fluorescein. The detection system incorporates eight blue LEDs irradiation sources arranged at 0–90° angles relative to twin solar cell detectors connected. Two fluorescence quenching strategies were developed. The injected‑mixture mode (IMFQ) exhibited linear ranges of 0.00–1.00 mM for Cl⁻ and 0.00–1.25 mM for I⁻, with detection limits of 20 µM and 10 µmol L⁻¹, respectively. The continuous‑flow mode (CFFQ) demonstrated superior sensitivity with a dispersion factor of 1.33, wider linear ranges (0.1–6.0 m
This research studies the comparison of deep neural network models and performance evaluation to predict the gold prices of time series, where the gold prices contain high fluctuations and non-linear patterns that are difficult to capture using traditional models, which makes predicting them a significant challenge. Therefore, the focus was on using deep learning models represented by (LSTM), (Bi-LSTM), (GRU) and (Bi-GRU). The results showed the superiority of the (Bi-GRU) model according to comparison criteria (MSE), (RMSE), (MAE), and (R∧2) compared to other models because it was able to understand the time patterns better by processing the data in both directions and provided superior performance, which indicates its effectiveness, eff
... Show MoreIn this study, high-performance solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) with different compositions were investigated for next-generation lithium-based energy storage and flexible electronics technology applications. The SPE films were prepared by the solution casting method using hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), polyethylene glycol (PEG), and lithium sulfate (Li2SO4 ). The obtained films were flexible and transparent, hence suitable for structural, optical, electrical, and thermal characterizations. The XRD pattern of HPMC indicated a broad peak at 2 theta approximate to 20 degrees, while the films HPMC/PEG- Li2SO4 showed sharp peaks assigned to the crystalline nature of Li2SO4 . Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectra confirmed O-H vibra
... Show MoreThe present study employed the NAG-4SX3-3D analyzer to precisely measure the energy response of the sensor. The goal was to enhance the understanding of this technology by providing expert information about the device. This technology offers an economical, quick, accurate, and sensitive approach. By utilizing the turbidity method, Cyproheptadine hydrochloride (CPH) was quantified in pharmaceutical samples without the need for additional substances. CPH is expected to undergo a direct reaction with calcium hexacyanoferrate, resulting in the formation of white precipitates. The linear range for CPH measurement falls within the range of (0.008–30) mM. The relative standard deviation (RSD) for six repetitions at concentrations of (6 and
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