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 Mn2O3 doped with Cu have been fabricated using the simplest and cheapest chemical spray pyrolysis technique onto a glass substrate heated up to 250 oC. Transmittance and absorptance spectra were studied in the wavelength range (300 -1100) nm. The average transmittance at low energy was about 60% and decrease with Cu doping, Optical constants like refractive index, extinction coefficient and dielectric constants (εr), (εi) are calculated and correlated with doping process.
Superconducting thin films of Bi1.6Pb0.4Sr2Ca2Cu2.2Zn0.8O10 system were prepared by depositing the film onto silicon (111) substrate by pulsed laser deposition. Annealing treatment and superconducting properties were investigated by XRD and four probe resistivity measurement. The analysis reveals the evolution of the minor phase of the films 2212 phase to 2223 phase, when the film was annealed at 820 °C. Also the films have superconducting behavior with transition temperature ≥90K.
Abstract Background: Multidrug-resistant bacteria (MDR) often contaminate hospital environment and cause serious illnesses. Quorum Sensing (QS) regulates a variety of downstream cellular processes, including antibiotics resistance mechanisms and biofilm formation, and causes harm to the host. This study investigates antibacterial susceptibility and biofilm formation of pathogenic bacteria in hospital environment. Methods: Hundred bacterial isolates were collected from various environments in the Medical City hospital. The antimicrobial susceptibility technique was evaluated through disk diffusion method. Next, biofilms formation was detected by the microliter plate assay. Finally, PCR was used to analyze the frequency of QS system gene
... Show MoreRate of zinc consumption during the cathodic protection of copper pipeline which carries saline water was measured by weight loss technique in the absence and presence of bacteria. Variables studied were solution flow rate, temperature, time and NaCl concentration. It was found that within the present range of variables; the rate of zinc consumption increases with the increase of all operating conditions. The presence of bacteria increases the zinc consumption. Fourth order multi-term model and one-term model were suggested to represent the consumption data. Nonlinear regression analysis was used to estimate the coefficients of these models, while statistical analysis was used to determine the effect of each coefficient. Both models were re
... Show MoreWarm mix asphalt (WMA) is relatively a new technology which enables the production and compaction of asphalt concrete mixtures at temperatures 15-40 °C lower than that of traditional hot mix asphalt HMA. In the present work, six asphalt concrete mixtures were produced in the mix plant (1 ton each) in six different batches. Half of these mixes were WMA and the other half were HMA. Three types of fillers (limestone dust, Portland cement and hydrated lime) were used for each type of mix. Samples were then taken from these patches and transferred to lab for performance testing which includes: Marshall characteristics, moisture susceptibility (indirect tension test), resilient modulus, permanent deformation (axial repe
... Show MoreWarm mix asphalt (WMA) is relatively a new technology which enables the production and compaction of asphalt concrete mixtures at temperatures 15-40 °C lower than that of traditional hot mix asphalt HMA. In the present work, six asphalt concrete mixtures were produced in the mix plant (1 ton each) in six different batches. Half of these mixes were WMA and the other half were HMA. Three types of fillers (limestone dust, Portland cement and hydrated lime) were used for each type of mix. Samples were then taken from these patches and transferred to lab for performance testing which includes: Marshall characteristics, moisture susceptibility (indirect tension test), resilient modulus, permanent deformation (axial repeated load test)
... Show MoreSince 1990 internal combustion engines and variable systems has been considered as emission. Noise can be defined as undesirable sound, and in high levels it can be considered ahealth hazard. Large internal combustion engines produce high levels of noise. In many countries there are laws restricting the noise levels in large engine rooms and fixed applications. Locomotives engines have the minimum emission influence because of noise control techniques capability.
In this paper study on a single cylinder internal combustion engine was conducted. The engine works by adding ethanol to gasoline, at variable speeds, without adding ethanol, and with adding 10 and 20% ethanol in volumetric ratio. Using one sound insulator or two or with
... Show MoreThis work is focused on studying the effect of liquid layer level (height above a target material) on zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO and ZnO2) production using liquid-phase pulsed laser ablation (LP-PLA) technique. A plate of Zn metal inside different heights of an aqueous environment of cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) with molarity (10-3 M) was irradiated with femtosecond pulses. The effect of liquid layer height on the optical properties and structure of ZnO was studied and characterized through UV-visible absorption test at three peaks at 213 nm, 216 nm and 218 nm for three liquid heights 4, 6 and 8 mm respectively. The obtained results of UV–visible spectra test show a blue shift accomp
... Show MoreSteps were taken to obtain the Kojic acid crystals from local fungal isolation A. flavus WJF81 by separating the fermentation products from the fungus mycelium from the production plant at the centrifuge at a speed of 5000 cycles for 10 minutes. The extraction was followed by ethyl acetate then supernatant concentrate by using rotary evaporator, and dried with heat oven 37ºC. Long, yellowish, pristine acid crystals were obtained that examined the optical microscope with a magnification force of 10x and 40x. The melting point of kojic acid was determined between 152.9-153.5 °C Results of the diagnosis of Kojic acid by applying High pressure liquid chromatography HPLC technique showed that the acid was at one peak, which was close to the
... Show MoreBacteriocin is an important antimicrobial peptide that can be used in industrial and medical fields due to its characteristics of antibacterial, food preservation and anticancer activities. Fifty isolates of Bacillus sp were collected from different soil samples which were already recognized via morphological and biochemical identification process. The isolates were screened for bacteriocin production effective against Staphylococcus spp in order to select the highest producing isolate. The isolate NK16 showed the maximum bacteriocin production (80 AU/ml) which was further characterized as Bacillus subtilis NK 16 through using API identification system (API 20E and API 50CHB). Then, next step was to detect the optimal conditions for maximum
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