Antibiotic resistance is the major growing threat facing the pharmacological treatment of bacterial infections. Therefore, bioprospecting the medicinal plants could provide potential sources for antimicrobial agents. Mimusops, the biggest and widely distributed plant genus of family Sapotaceae, is used in traditional medicines due to its promising pharmacological activities. This study was conducted to elucidate the antimicrobial effect of three unexplored Mimusops spp. (M. kummel, M. laurifolia and M. zeyheri). Furthermore, the mechanisms underlying such antibacterial activity were studied. The Mimusops leaf extracts revealed significant antibacterial activities against the five tested bacterial strains with a maximum inhibition zone diameter of 22.0 mm against B. subtilis compared with standard antibiotic ciprofloxacin. The minimal inhibitory and bactericidal concentration values against tested Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains ranged from 3.15-12.5 µg/ml. However, weak antifungal effect was recorded against Candida albicans with MIC value ˃25 µg/ml. The 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay showed that M. caffra was the best antioxidant (IC50=14.75±0.028 µg/ml), while M. laurifolia was the least one (IC50=34.22±0.014 µg/ml). The phenolics in plant leaves extracts were identified and quantified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) which revealed the presence of seven phenolic acids and four flavonoids. The abundant phenolic compounds were rutin (5.216±0.067 mg/g dried wt.) and gallic acid (0.296±0.068 mg/g) followed by myricetin (0.317±0.091 mg/g) then kaempferol (0.113±0.049 mg/g) as flavonoids. The antibacterial mechanism of M. laurifolia extract, as a representative species, induces ultrastructural changes in the model bacterium Staphylococcus aureus with cell wall and plasma membrane lysis as revealed by transmission electron microscopy. Overall, Mimusops species (M. laurifolia, M. kummel and M. zeyheri) are promising natural alternative sources for antimicrobial agents.
n each relapse. Objjec tt iiv es :: To sttudy diifffferentt ffacttors whiich miightt be associiatted or lleadiing tto
tthe occurrence off rellapse iin nephrottiic syndrome
Metthods:: A retrospective study of seventy patients with nephrotic syndrome with age range of 1-14 years, who were diagnosed and treated in Child's Central Teaching Hospital over the period of 1st of January and 1st of July 2008.
The patients were divided into three groups; frequent relapses group, infrequent relapses group and undetermined group. We compared between frequent relapses group and infrequent relapses group in regard to age, sex, type of presentation, biochemical findings which include; total serum protein, serum albumin and renal function test,
Unconfined Compressive Strength is considered the most important parameter of rock strength properties affecting the rock failure criteria. Various research have developed rock strength for specific lithology to estimate high-accuracy value without a core. Previous analyses did not account for the formation's numerous lithologies and interbedded layers. The main aim of the present study is to select the suitable correlation to predict the UCS for hole depth of formation without separating the lithology. Furthermore, the second aim is to detect an adequate input parameter among set wireline to determine the UCS by using data of three wells along ten formations (Tanuma, Khasib, Mishrif, Rumaila, Ahmady, Maudud, Nahr Um
... Show MoreA simple, economical and selective method employing ion pair dispersive liquid−liquid microextraction (DLLME) coupled with spectrophotometric determination of carbamazepine (CBZ) in pharmaceutical preparations and biological samples was developed. The method is based on reduction of Mo(VI) to Mo(V) using a combination of ammonium thiocyanate and ascorbic acid in acidic medium to form a red binary Mo(V) thiocyanate complex. After addition of CBZ to the complex, extraction of the formed CBZ−Mo(V)−(SCN)6 was performed using a mixture of methylene chloride and methanol. Then, the measurement of target complex was performed at the wavelength of 470 nm. The important extraction parameters affecting the efficiency of DLLME were studied and o
... Show MoreBreast cancer is the most common cancer among women over the world. To reducing reoccurrence and mortality rates, adjuvant hormonal therapy (AHT) is used for a long period. The major barrier to the effectiveness of the treatment is adherence. Adherence to medicines among patients is challenging. Patient beliefs in medications can be positively or negatively correlated to adherence. Objectives: To investigate the extent of adherence and factors affecting adherence, as well as to investigate the association between beliefs and adherence in women with breast cancer taking AHT. Method: A cross-sectional study included 124 Iraqi women with breast cancer recruited from Middle Euphrates
... Show MoreEnglish is spoken by its native speakers in two different forms. Reduced form which marks the colloquial and rapid speech so that it is easily produced and a citation or unreduced form which is a characteristic of careful, emphasized and slow speech.
This paper investigates Iraqi EFL university students’ production of the two forms mentioned above. The sample chosen includes twenty fourth year students, of which ten are males and the other ten are females from the Department of English of the College of Languages of the University of Duhok in Kurdistan Region of Iraq in the academic year 2020-2021. The material tested is six connective words which represent the commonest ones in every-day co
... Show MoreDespite extensive investigations, an effective treatment for sepsis remains elusive and a better understanding of the inflammatory response to infection is required to identify potential new targets for therapy. In this study we have used RNAi technology to show, for the first time, that the inducible lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase 2 (LPCAT2) plays a key role in macrophage inflammatory gene expression in response to stimulation with bacterial ligands. Using siRNA- or shRNA-mediated knockdown, we demonstrate that, in contrast to the constitutive LPCAT1, LPCAT2 is required for macrophage cytokine gene expression and release in response to TLR4 and TLR2 ligand stimulation but not for TLR-independent stimuli. In addition, cells transfe
... Show MoreThe unexpected death of humans due to a lack of medical care is a serious problem. Additionally, the number of elderly people requiring continuous care is increasing. A global aging population poses a challenge to the sustainability of conventional healthcare systems for the future. Simultaneously, recent years have seen remarkable progress in the Internet of Things (IoT) and communication technologies, alongside the growing importance of artificial intelligence (AI) explainability and information fusion. Therefore, developing smart healthcare systems based on IoT and advanced technologies is crucial. This would open up new possibilities for efficient and intelligent medical system
Activation of farnesoid X receptor (FXR) markedly attenuates development of atherosclerosis in animal models. However, the underlying mechanism is not well elucidated. Here, we show that the FXR agonist, obeticholic acid (OCA), increases fecal cholesterol excretion and macrophage reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) dependent on activation of hepatic FXR. OCA does not increase biliary cholesterol secretion, but inhibits intestinal cholesterol absorption. OCA markedly inhibits hepatic cholesterol 7α‐hydroxylase (