The aim of this study is to investigate the role of prodigiosin on P. aeruginosa' s biofilm genes involved in the pathogenicity and persistency of the bacteria; Materials and methods: Gram negative bacterial isolates were taken from burn and wounds specimen obtained from some of Baghdad hospitals. Forty six isolates were identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and four isolates as Serratia marcescens by using biochemical tests and VITEK 2 compact system. Susceptibility test was performed for all P. aeruginosa isolates, the results showed that 100% were resistant to Amikacin and 98% were sensitive to Meropenem. Resistant isolates were tested for biofilm formation; the strong and moderate isolates (17) were detected by PCR for AlgD gene presence. From 17 isolates only two had AlgD gene. All serratia isolates were screened for prodigiosin production, which were extracted from the best producer isolate. Minimal inhibitory concentration was assessed for prodigiosin and ciprofloxacin and synergism between them against the two isolates of P. aeruginosa. Results and conclusions: The results showed that the synergistic effect decreased MIC of both prodigiosin and ciprofloxacin by combination, and reduction of biofilm formation was detected. RNA was extracted from the two selected isolates as control in addition to three treatments. The result of quantitative real time PCR showed down regulation in the AlgD gene expression level under some treatments, while there was no gene expression in most treatments with both sub-MICs treatment
Concrete columns with hollow-core sections find widespread application owing to their excellent structural efficiency and efficient material utilization. However, corrosion poses a challenge in concrete buildings with steel reinforcement. This paper explores the possibility of using glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) reinforcement as a non-corrosive and economically viable substitute for steel reinforcement in short square hollow concrete columns. Twelve hollow short columns were meticulously prepared in the laboratory experiments and subjected to pure axial compressive loads until failure. All columns featured a hollow square section with exterior dimensions of (180 × 180) mm and 900 mm height. The columns were categorized into
... Show Morecompound [1] was formed from the reaction of benzoin and benzaldehyde in the presence of ammonia, which was reacted with sodium hydride in DMF to obtain imidazole salt. This salt was reacted with adipoyl chloride to give compound [2]. Acid hydrazide derivative [3] was obtained from the reaction of compound [2] with hydrazine hydrate. After that Shiff bases [4-9] have been synthesized from the reaction of compound [3] with different aromatic aldehydes. These new formed compounds were diagnosed by 13C-NMR, 1H-NMR for some of them (in Ahl-Albate University in Jordan) and FT-IR spectroscopy (In Baghdad University). All of the prepared products have been studied their biological activities toward two kinds of bacteria. These products show
... Show MoreThe complexity and partially defined nature of jet grouting make it hard to predict the performance of grouted piles. So the trials of cement injection at a location with similar soil properties as the erecting site are necessary to assess the performance of the grouted piles. Nevertheless, instead of executing trial-injected piles at the pilot site, which wastes money, time, and effort, the laboratory cement injection devices are essential alternatives for evaluating soil injection ability. This study assesses the performance of a low-pressure laboratory grouting device by improving loose sandy soil injected using binders formed of Silica Fume (SF) as a chemical admixture (10% of Ordinary Portland Cement OPC mass) to di
... Show MoreThe effective insulation design of the stress grading (SG) system in form-wound stator coils is essential for preventing partial discharges and excessive heat generation under pulse-width modulation excitation. This paper proposes a method to find the optimal insulation design of the SG system aimed at reducing the dielectric and thermal stresses in the machine coil. The non-uniform transmission line model is used to predict the voltage propagation along the overhang, SG, and slot regions considering the variation in the physical properties of the insulation layers. The machine coil parameters for different insulation materials are calculated by using the finite element method. Two optimization algorithms, fmincon and particle swarm optimiz
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