The effect of 532nm Diode Pumped Solid State (DPSS) laser at power density of 5.234 W/cm2 on the growth of Gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus was evaluated. These bacteria were isolated from samples taken from burn and infected wound areas of 55 patients admitted to the burn-wound unit in Al-Kindy teaching hospital in Baghdad during the period from October 2012 to March 2013. Each isolate was identified using microscopic, cultural and biochemical methods. A standard bacterial suspension was prepared for each isolate. Serial dilutions were then prepared and a dilution of 10-5 was selected. Irradiation experiments included four groups: (L-P-) bacterial suspension in saline solution, (L-P+) bacterial suspension in the presence of 0.1mg/ml photosensitizer (safranin O), (L+P-) bacterial suspension treated with laser radiation only and finally (L+P+) bacterial suspension treated with laser radiation in the presence of the photosensitizer. After irradiation, Cetrimide agar (P. aeruginosa) and Mannitol salt agar (S.aureus) were used. Seven replicates were used for each experimental group. Different times of exposure were applied for irradiated groups. The results revealed that twenty two isolates out of 70 samples were positive for P. aeruginosa (31%) and fifteen isolates out of 35 samples were positive for S. aureus (42%). The combined effect of DPSS laser and safranine O was significantly effective in reducing the number of Colony Forming Units per milliliter (CFU/ml) of P. aeruginosa and S. aureus compared with control groups. Almost a complete bacterial mortality achieved at 25 and 5 minutes of exposing to laser light in the presence of safranin O for P. aeruginosa and S. aureus respectively, suggesting that singlet oxygen (O2*) and/or reactive oxygen species (ROS) were involved in the killing of the bacteria.
A comparative study was done on the adsorption of methyl orange dye (MO) using non-activated and activated corn leaves with hydrochloric acid as an adsorbent material. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were utilized to specify the properties of adsorbent material. The effect of several variables (pH, initial dye concentration, temperature, amount of adsorbent and contact time) on the removal efficiency was studied and the results indicated that the adsorption efficiency increases with the increase in the concentration of dye, adsorbent dosage and contact time, while inversely proportional to the increase in pH and temperature for both the treated and untreated corn leaves. The equi
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Water pollution as a result of contamination with dye-contaminating effluents is a severe issue for water reservoirs, which instigated the study of biodegradation of Reactive Red 195 and Reactive Blue dyes by E. coli and Bacillus sp. The effects of occupation time, solution pH, initial dyes concentrations, biomass loading, and temperature were investigated via batch-system experiments by using the Design of Experiment (DOE) for 2 levels and 5 factors response surface methodology (RSM). The operational conditions used for these factors were optimized using quadratic techniques by reducing the number of experiments. The results revealed that the two types of bacteria had a powerful effect on biodegradable dyes. The regression analysis reveale
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In this study, the potential of adsorption of amoxicillin antibiotic (AMOX) from aqueous solutions using prepared activated carbon (AC) was studied. The used AC was prepared from an inexpensive and available precursor (sunflower seed hulls (SSH)) and activated by potassium hydroxide (KOH). The prepared AC was examined for its ability to remove AMOX from aqueous contaminated solutions and characterized with the aid of N2 -adsorption/desorption isotherm Brunauer–Emmett– Teller, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and Fourier-transform infrared. Zeta potential of the prepared activated carbon from sunflower seed hulls (SSHAC) were studied in relation to AMOX adsorption. The physical and chemical propert
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This study was done to find a cheap, available and ecofriendly materials that can remove eosin y dye from aqueous solutions by adsorption in this study, two adsorbent materials were used, the shells of fresh water clam (Cabicula fluminea) and walnut shells. To make a comparison between the two adsorbents, five experiments were conducted. First, the effects of the contact time, here the nut shell removed the dye quickly, while the C. flumina need more contact time to remove the dye. Second, the effects of adsorbent weight were examined. The nut shell was very promising and for all used adsorbent weight, the R% ranged from 94.87 to 99.29. However C. fluminea was less effective in removing the dye with R% ranged from 47.59 to 55.39. The thi
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Nearly a century and a half has passed since Sarah Orne Jewett published her much anthologized short story “A White Heron” (1886), but commentators on the tale missed one of the most important points in the text. It is the story’s similarity to the traditional Euro-centric fairy tale of “Little Red Riding Hood”. As an author, writing at the end of the ninetieth century, a time that witnessed the demise of the Romantic movement in America and the beginning of the age of Realism, Jewett did not romanticize her characters, despite the idyllic landscape in which “A White Heron” is set. Her story can be analyzed as a text that aims at disseminating ecological awareness among her young readers. This study focuses on Jewett
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