A total of 60 cotton swabs are collected from patients suffering from burn wound and surgical site infections admitted to Baghdad Teaching Hospital and Burn Specialist Hospital in Baghdad city during 9/2013 to 11/2013. All cotton swabs are cultured initially on blood agar and MacConkey agar and subjected for standard bacteriological procedures for bacteriological diagnosis. Twenty samples out of sixty are identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa by conventional methods. The results of antibiotic susceptibility test illustrate that the antibiotics resistance rate of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates is as follows:100% (2020) for ceftriaxone, cefepime and carbencillin, 70% (14/20) for amikacin, 65%(13/20) for tobramycin, ceftazidim and gentamycin, 55% (11/20) for ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin, 50% (10/20) for piperacillin and impeneme, 30% (6/20) for aztreonam. All Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates are investigated for detection of some virulence factors (haemolysin, protease, lipase enzymes, and extracellular pigments) and biofilm formation. The results of virulence factors reveal that all the isolates are haemolysin, protease, lipase enzymes and extracellular pigments producer, while 95% of the isolates are biofilm producer. Six isolates are selected to irradiation by using CO2 laser according to the results of antibiotic susceptibility and virulence factors at power densities (2000, 2500, and 3000) W/cm2 with exposure time (60 and 90) second. The results of CO2 laser irradiation illustrate that CO2 laser irradiation lead to a reduction in the mean value of the viable number CFU/ml of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates with the increase of the power density and exposure time. The results of the statistical analysis by using analysis of variance (ANOVA) one way and least significant differences-LSD show that there are statistical significant differences in the mean of the viable number CFU/ml between different power densities and different exposure times. After irradiation, antibiotic susceptibility and virulence factors tests of the irradiated strains are performed. The current study concludes that CO2 laser has bactericidal effect on P. aeruginosa isolates without any effect on its antibiotics susceptibility and virulence factors.
The issue of penalized regression model has received considerable critical attention to variable selection. It plays an essential role in dealing with high dimensional data. Arctangent denoted by the Atan penalty has been used in both estimation and variable selection as an efficient method recently. However, the Atan penalty is very sensitive to outliers in response to variables or heavy-tailed error distribution. While the least absolute deviation is a good method to get robustness in regression estimation. The specific objective of this research is to propose a robust Atan estimator from combining these two ideas at once. Simulation experiments and real data applications show that the proposed LAD-Atan estimator
... Show MoreIt has increasingly been recognised that the future developments in geospatial data handling will centre on geospatial data on the web: Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI). The evaluation of VGI data quality, including positional and shape similarity, has become a recurrent subject in the scientific literature in the last ten years. The OpenStreetMap (OSM) project is the most popular one of the leading platforms of VGI datasets. It is an online geospatial database to produce and supply free editable geospatial datasets for a worldwide. The goal of this paper is to present a comprehensive overview of the quality assurance of OSM data. In addition, the credibility of open source geospatial data is discussed, highlighting the diff
... Show MoreAn electrolytic process for the removal of Zn(II) from aqueous solution using a parallel amalgamated copper screens cathode operated in the flow through mode is proposed. The current-potential curves recorded at a rotating amalgamated copper disc electrode were used to determine diffusion coefficient of Zn(II). The performance of electrolytic reactor was investigated by using different flow rates at initial zinc ion concentration(48 mg/L). Taking into account the residential Zn(II) concentration, the best results were obtained for cathode potential of (-1.35 V vs. SCE) at flow rate (320 L/h). Zinc ion concentration was found to decrease from 48 mg/L to 1 mg/L during 120 min. of electrolysis. The experimental data are well correlate
... Show MoreThe hydroconversion of Iraqi light straight run naphtha was studied on zeolite catalyst. 0.3wt.%Pt/HMOR catalyst was prepared locally and used in the present work. The hydroconversion performed on a continuous fixed-bed laboratory reaction unit. Experiments were performed in the temperature range of 200 to 350°C, pressure range of 3 to 15 bars, LHSV range of 0.5-2.5h-1, and the hydrogen to naphtha ratio of 300.
The results show that the hydroconversion of Iraqi light straight naphtha increases with increase in reaction temperature and decreases with increase in LHSV.
High octane number isomers were formed at low temperature of 240°C. The selectivity of hydroisomerization improved by increasing reaction pressu
... Show MoreBendable concrete, also known as Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC) is a type of ultra-ductile cementitious composites reinforced with fibres to control the width of cracks. It has the ability to enhance concrete flexibility by withstanding strains of 3% and higher. The properties of bendable concrete mixes (compressive strength, flexural strength, and drying shrinkage) are here assessed after the incorporation of supplementary cementitious materials, silica fume, polymer fibres, and the use of ordinary Portland cement (O.P.C) and Portland limestone cement (IL). Mixes with Portland limestone cement show lower drying shrinkage and lower compressive and flexural strength than mixes with ordinary Portland cement, due to the ratio o
... Show MoreDevelopments are carried out to enhance the performance of vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT). This paper studies the performance of the ducted wind turbine with convergent duct (DAWT). Basically, the duct technique is utilized to provide the desired wind velocity facing the turbine. Methodology was developed to estimate the decisive performance parameter and to present the effect of the convergent duct with different inlet angles. The ducted wind turbine was analyzed and simulated using MATLAB software and numerically using ANSYS-Fluent 17.2. Result of both approaches were presented and showed good closeness for the two cases of covering angles 12 and 20 respectively. Results also showed that the convergent duct with an inlet angl
... Show MoreAluminum Metal Matrix Composites (ALMMCs) was prepared by using stir casting technique for AA 7075 aluminum alloy as a matrix reinforced with SiC particles at various percentages (3, 6, 9 and 12 wt. % ) and 75µm in grain size. The prepared composite material can be used for many applications such as aerospace, automobiles and many industrial sectors. Abrasive wear test was carried out by two stages: the first stage was done by changing the emery papers at various grit sizes 180, 320, 500, and 1000µm with constant applied load 15N. While the second stage was carried out by changing the applied loads 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25N with constant emery paper at 320 µm grit size. Microstructure examination, hardness test and roughn
... Show MoreUnderstanding, promoting, and teaching media literacy is an important societal challenge. STEM educators are increasingly looking to incorporate 21st century skills such as media literacy into core subject education. In this paper we investigate how undergraduate Computer Science (CS) students can learn media literacy as a by-product of collaborative video tutorial production. The paper presents a study of 34 third-year CS undergraduates who, as part of their learning, were each asked to produce three video tutorials on Raspberry Pi programming, using a collaborative video production tool for mobile phones (Bootlegger). We provide results of both quantitative and qualitative analysis of the production process and resulting video tutorials,
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