Twenty five vaginal swabs from outpatients' healthy women were collected from Kamal Al-Samarai Hospital, Baghdad, to isolate and identify of Lactobacillus acidophilus. Three isolates were diagnosed as L. acidophilus which represents 15% of the total number of lactic acid bacterial (LAB) isolates; other LAB types represent 65% (20 isolates).The ability of L. acidophilus to produce surlactin was detected after measuring its biological activity to inhibit the adhesion of biofilm formed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa to surfaces using test tube method. It was found that all isolates were able to produce surlactin but the activity of surlactin was varying in each isolate. Surlactin produced by isolates 1 and 13 was the most effective. Biological applications of surlactin were studied by inhibiting the adhesion of pathogenic P. aeruginosa producing biofilm on contact lenses. In this study the surlactin has the ability to inhibit the adhesion up to 60% and 55% for isolates 1 and 13 respectively and does not have an antibacterial activity.Surlactin showed an ability to treat the infection in rabbits' eyes with P. aeruginosa while it did not show this ability against Staphylococcus aureus. Additionally, it prevented the infection with P. aeruginosa when administrated to rabbits' eyes inoculated with these bacteria only, while it showed no effect against S. aureus.
Thin films of Nb2O5 have been successfully deposited using the DC reactive magnetron sputtering technique to manufacture NH3 gas sensors. These films have been annealed at a high temperature of 800°C for one hour. The assessment of the Nb2O5 thin films structural, morphological, and electrical characteristics was carried out using several methods such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Hall effect measurements, and sensitivity assessments. The XRD analysis confirms the polycrystalline composition of the Nb2O5 thin films with a hexagonal crystal structure. Furthermore, the sensitivity, response time, and recovery time of the gas sensor were evaluated for the Nb2O5 thin film
... Show MoreBackground: Dental stone casts come into contact with impression materials and becomes susceptible to cross contamination from saliva and blood. This study was done to evaluate the physical and mechanical properties of dental stone type IV after treatments with various disinfecting agents and regimes (methods). Materials and Methods: Type IV dental stone and different types of disinfecting agents were used and divided into seven groups: G1: dental stone without disinfection (control group), G2: dental stone mixed with silver nitrate powder 0.5% , G3: dental stone mixed with silver nitrate powder 1%, G4: dental stone mixed with copper sulfate powder 0.5%, G5: dental stone mixed with copper sulfate powder 1% ,G6: dental stone immersed in prop
... Show MoreFiber reinforced polymer composite is an important material for structural application. The diversified application of FRP composite has taken center of attraction for interdisciplinary research. However, improvements on mechanical properties of this class of materials are still under research for different applications. In this paper we have modified the epoxy matrix by Al2O3, SiO2 and TiO2 nano particles in glass fiber/epoxy composite to improve the mechanical and physical properties. The composites are fabricated by hand lay-up method. It is observed that mechanical properties like flexural strength, hardness are more in case of SiO2 modified epoxy composite compare to other nano
... Show MoreThis experiment was performed to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation with flax seed on the egg quality of laying quail. A total of 320 Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) wk old were allocated to 4 treatment groups with 4 replicates containing 20 quail each. Birds were fed a commercial diet containing 0% (C), 2% (T1), 4% (T2), or 6% (T3) flax seed. Birds received water and diet ad libitum during the total period of the experiment. Egg quality characteristics were monitored over 3 consecutive 21-day periods. Egg quality criteria involved in this experiment involved egg weight, yolk diameter, yolk height, yolk weight, albumen height, albumen weight, shell weight, shell thickness, Haugh unit, albumen percentage, yolk perc
... Show MoreThe seedlings of vegetables are exposed to stress states, especially through the first period, due to injuring their roots by transplanting or heavy rain , so it is necessary to provide an available nutrient to recover the growth and increase their early yield, which means more income for farmers. In this regard, an experiment was conducted in the College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, Agriculture Faculty, University of Baghdad, Iraq to study the effect of different types and concentrations of mineral fertilizers as starter solutions by using high nitrogen (N), high phosphorus (P) and neutral fertilizers (Q) at three levels which were 4 g/l (S1), 8 g/l (S2) and 12 g/l (S3) on broccoli growth and yield. The results showed tha
... Show MoreTo investigate the effect of spraying some plant extraction and anti-oxidants on growth and yield of two cultivars of sunflower, a field experiment was conducted during fall season of 2009 and spring season of 2010 at the Experimental Farm, Department of Field Crop Science, College of Agriculture/ University of Baghdad. RCBD with three replications as factorial at two factors was used. First factor was cultivars Akmar and Shmoss, second was spraying with extraction of karkade at 25%, liquorices at 50%, vitamin C at concentration 1.5 mg.l-1 and nutrient which content 15 elements at concentration 15 % in addition to control treatment which sprayed with distilled water only. The result showed no significant differences between the two cultivar
... Show MoreBackground: Impression materials, impression trays, and poured stone cast have been said to be the main source of cross infection between patients and dentists. However, it was observed that disinfection of the impression is not performed systematically in routine dental practice. Disinfection of alginates either by immersion or spray technique was found to cause dimensional inaccuracies, although with proper disinfection of alginates there were small dimensional changes. A variety of fluoride releasing products designed for topical use is currently available. Following their use, varied amount of fluoride is systemically absorbed depending on the fluoride concentration and the manner of its use. The objective of this study was to evaluate
... Show MoreBackground: The combination of thermoplastic nylon resin materials and auto polymerizing resin is necessary in some situation for repair and adjustment. This study evaluated shear bond strength between thermoplastic nylon material (flexible) and auto polymerizing acrylic resin subjected to holes and silica coated layer. Materials and Method: Forty five (45) specimens were prepared from flexible acrylic bonded to auto-polymerizing acrylic resin and divided into three groups according to the surface treatments as follows: Group A: 15 specimens of flexible acrylic bonded with cold-cure acrylic by holes. Group B: 15 specimens of flexible acrylic bonded with cold-cure acrylic by silica coated layer. Group C: 15 specimens of flexible acrylic bon
... Show MoreSn effect on the phase transformation behavior, microstructure, and micro hardness of equiatomic Ni-Ti shape memory alloy was studied. NiTi and NiTiSn alloys were produced using vacuum induction melting process with alloys composition (50% at. Ni, 50% at.Ti) and (Ni 48% at., Ti 50% at., Sn 2% at.). The characteristics of both alloys were investigated by utilizing Differential Scanning Calorimetry, X- ray Diffraction Analysis, Scanning Electron Microscope, optical microscope and vicker's micro hardness test. The results showed that adding Sn element leads to decrease the phase transformation temperatures evidently. Both alloy samples contain NiTi matrix phase and Ti2Ni secondary phase, but the Ti2Ni phase content dec
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