Background: The interest in herbal extracts as antimicrobial agents has increased over the past few years in endodontic therapy. Nasturtium officinale (watercress) is a promising plant with great medicinal values. This study aimed to investigate the antifungal activity of watercress oil in combination with calcium hydroxide against Candida albicans as intracanal medicament. Materials and Methods: Candida albicans was isolated from patients with necrotic root canal or failed root canal treatment. The sensitivity of Candida albicans to different concentrations of watercress oil extract was determined by using the agar well diffusion method in comparison with calcium hydroxide paste. The agar plate method was used to determine the minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of the tested oil against the fungus. The combination of the oil extract of Nasturtium officinale with calcium hydroxide was evaluated and compared to calcium hydroxide paste with iodoform by using the agar well diffusion method. Results: The oil extract exhibited antifungal activity against Candida albicans, this activity was found to be increased as the concentration of extract increased. The tested combination of watercress oil extract with calcium hydroxide revealed larger inhibition zones than the ones formed by each tested agent individually. Conclusion: The oil extract of Nasturtium officinale is active against Candida albicans suggesting its potential to be used as an intracanal medicament alone or in combination with calcium hydroxide.
The alfalfa plant, after harvesting, was washed, dried, and grinded to get fine powder used in water treatment. We used the alfalfa plant with ethanol to make the alcoholic extract characterized by using (GC-Mass, FTIR, and UV) spectroscopy to determine active compounds. Alcoholic extract was used to prepare zinc nanoparticles. We characterized Zinc nanoparticles using (FTIR, UV, SEM, EDX Zeta potential, XRD, AFM). Zinc nanoparticle with Alfalfa extract and alfalfa powder were used in the treatment of water polluted with inorganic elements such as Cr, Mn, Fe, Cu, Cd, Ag by (Batch processing). The batch process with using alfalfa powder gets treated with Pb (51.45%), which is the highest percentage of treatment. Mn (13.18%), which is the
... Show MoreIn this research, hand lay- up technique is used to prepare samples from epoxy resin reinforced with multi- walled carbon nanotubes in different weight fractions (0, 2, 3, 4, 5) wt%. The immersion effect by sodium hydroxide solution (NaOH) at normality (0.3N) for a period of (15 days) on the thermal conductivity of nanocomposites was studied, and compared to natural condition (before immersion). The thermal conductivity of epoxy nanocomposites specimens were carried out using Lee’s disk method. The experimental results showed that thermal conductivity increased with increase weight fraction before and after immersion for all specimens, while the immersion effect leads to decrease thermal conductive values compared to thermal conductivi
... Show MoreIn this study, synthesis of polymer Nanocomposites through the blending of prepared polymers with polyvinyl alcohol (a synthetic polymer) or chitosan (a natural polymer) then mixed with nano oxide silica by many steps. The new compound [I] was obtained via reaction of 3,3’-dimethoxybiphenyl-4,4’-diamine as starting material with malic anhydride in DMF then treatment with ammonium persulfate (NH4 )2 S2 O8 (as the initiator) in order to produce polymer [II]. Also, we prepared new polymers [III-V] by using the same starting material (3,3’-dimethoxybiphenyl-4,4’-diamine) with glutaric acid or adipic acid or isophthalic acid in DMF and pyridine. In this study, new polymer blending [VI-IX] and [X-XIII] were synthesized from a prepared pol
... Show MoreA progressive increase in the desire for environmentally friendly lubricants by users and strict government regulations for the use of these lubricants has provided an opportunity to use plant oils as biodegradable lubricants, therefore vegetable oils have been investigated to replace oil lubricants because of their maintaining the conditions of nature (environment) properties. In this paper, the influences of the blending ratio of mustard seeds oil with commercial mineral oil (SAE40) on the tribological characteristics were investigated and compared with mineral oil using the four-ball tribotester. Mustard seeds oil was blended with mineral oil at a volumetric ratio ranging from 22.5 to 90%. All experimental works were
... Show MoreLocal food samples investigated for the presence of pathogenic bacteria. Hash meat sample was used to isolate Escherichia coli and chicken meat (poultry) was used to isolate Salmonella typhi. Biochemical tests and API20E system used in order to identify these isolates. Two natural vinegar samples (dates & apple cider) were used in order to study its antibacterial activity against the two tested bacteria. Disc diffusion method was used, the results showed that two vinegar samples have antibacterial activity against the two tested bacteria. Date vinegar showed inhibition zone 19mm against E. coli & 9mm against S. typhi, while Apple cider vinegar showed diameter of inhibi
... Show MoreNew schiff bases series (VIII) a-e and 1,3-thiazolidin-4-one derivatives (IX) a-e containing the 1,2,4-triazole and 1,3,4-thiazazole rings were synthesized and screening their biological activities. These compounds were identified via Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra, some via Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) and mass spectra. The biological results indicated that all of these compounds did not reveal antibacterial effectiveness against (Escherichia coli and Klebsiella species) (G-). Some of these compounds showed moderate antibacterial activity against (Staphylococcus aureus, and Staphylococcus epidermidis) (G+), and all compounds exhibited moderate activity against Candida albicans.
Background: Many types of instruments and techniques are used in the instrumentation of the root canal system. These instruments and techniques may extrude debris beyond the apical foramen and may cause post-instrumentation complications. The aim of this study was to evaluate the amount of apically extruded debris resulted by using 4 types of nickel-titanium instruments (WaveOne, TRUShape 3D conforming files, Hyflex CM, and One Shape files) during endodontic instrumentation. Materials and methods: Forty freshly extracted human mandibular second premolar with straight canals and a single apex were collected for this study. All teeth were cut to similar lengths. Pre-weighted glass vials were used as collecting containers. Samples were randoml
... Show MoreAllium ampeloprasum extract has the potential to facilitate wound healing due to its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antibacterial properties. In this study, we aimed to investigate the potential wound-healing activity of the methanol extract derived from Allium ampeloprasum. Using 30 healthy male Wester rats; control group: 15 rats; normal saline applied locally instead of plant-extract. Experimental group: 15 rats received a daily local application of 200 mg/kg of the plant extract. Then, for each healing period of 0, 5, or 10 days, each group was divided into three-subgroups: A, B, and C, each with five rats. There was a significant difference in the percentage of wound contraction between the control and experimental groups (p 0.02)
... Show MoreToxoplasma gondiiis an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite of the phylum Apicomplexa, and toxoplasmosis is an important disease of both humans and economically important animals. With a limited array of drugs available there is a need to identify new therapeutic compounds. Aureobasidin A (AbA) is an antifungal that targets the essential inositol phosphorylceramide (IPC, sphingolipid) synthase in pathogenic fungi. This natural cyclic depsipeptide also inhibits