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.
Gold, silver and nickel used as electrodes in the fabrication of perovskite solar cell by using thermal evaporation deposition method with direct structure FTO\ TiO2\ MAPbI3\ spiro-MeOTAD\ metal electrode. The cell efficiency was compared between the electrodes material as a function of time to explaining the effect of these metals electrode on cell performance, X-ray diffraction pattern showed that the samples that contain gold and nickel do not contain a compound indicating the interaction of the metal with the components of the cell or the formation of a new compound, while in the cell containing silver it was found that silver iodide is fo
Galvanic corrosion of stainless steel 316 (SS316) and carbon steel (CS) coupled in 5% wt/v sulfuric acid solution at agitation velocity was investigated. The galvanic behavior of coupled metals was also studied using zero resistance ammeter (ZRA) method. The effects of agitation velocity, temperature, and time on galvanic corrosion current and loss in weight of both metals in both free corrosion and galvanic corrosion were investigated. The trends of open circuit potential (OCP) of each metal and galvanic potential (Eg) of the couple were, also, determined. Results showed that SS316 was cathodic relative to CS in galvanic couple and its OCP was much more positive than that of CS for all investigated ranges of
... Show MoreThis study introduces a series of single and pile group model tests subjected to lateral loads in . multilayered sand from Karbala, Iraq. The aim of this study is to investigate: the performance of the pile groups subjected to lateral loads; in which the pile batter inclination angle is changed; the effect of pile spacing (s/d) ratio, the influence of using different number of piles and pile group configuration. Results revealed that the performance of single negative (Reverse) Battered piles with inclination of 10° and 20° show a gain of 32% and 76 % in the ultimate lateral capacity over the regular ones. For pile groups, the use of a combination of regular, negative and positive battered piles in
... Show MoreExistence of these soils, sometimes with high gypsum content, caused difficult problems to the buildings and strategic projects due to dissolution and leaching of gypsum by the action of waterflow through soil mass. In this research, a new technique is adopted to investigate the performance of replacement and geosynthetic reinforcement materials to improve the gypseous soil behavior through experimential set up manufactured loaclally specially for this work. A series of tests were carried out using steel container (600*600*500) mm. A square footing (100*100) mm was placed at the center of the top surface of the bed soil. The results showed that the most effective thickness for the dune sand layer with geotextile at the interface, within
... Show MoreThe ejector refrigeration system is a desirable choice to reduce energy consumption. A Computational Fluid Dynamics CFD simulation using the ANSYS package was performed to investigate the flow inside the ejector and determine the performance of a small-scale steam ejector. The experimental results showed that at the nozzle throat diameter of 2.6 mm and the evaporator temperature of 10oC, increasing boiler temperature from 110oC to 140oC decreases the entrainment ratio by 66.25%. At the boiler temperature of 120oC, increasing the evaporator temperature from 7.5 to 15 oC increases the entrainment ratio by 65.57%. While at the boiler temperature of 120oC and
... Show MoreUtilizing phase change materials in thermal energy storage systems is commonly considered as an alternative solution for the effective use of energy. This study presents numerical simulations of the charging process for a multitube latent heat thermal energy storage system. A thermal energy storage model, consisting of five tubes of heat transfer fluids, was investigated using Rubitherm phase change material (RT35) as the. The locations of the tubes were optimized by applying the Taguchi method. The thermal behavior of the unit was evaluated by considering the liquid fraction graphs, streamlines, and isotherm contours. The numerical model was first verified compared with existed experimental data from the literature. The outcomes re
... Show MoreThis study discusses risk management strategies caused by pandemic-related (Covid-19) suspensions in thirty-six engineering projects of different types and sizes selected from countries in the middle east and especially Iraq. The primary data collection method was a survey and questionnaire completed by selected project crew and laborers. Data were processed using Microsoft Excel to construct models to help decision-makers find solutions to the scheduling problems that may be expected to occur during a pandemic. A theoretical and practical concept for project risk management that addresses a range of global and local issues that affect schedule and cost is presented and results indicate that the most significant delays are due to a
... Show MoreThe rapid advancements in wireless technology and digital electronics have led to the widespread adoption of compact, intelligent devices in various aspects of daily life. These advanced systems possess the capability to sense environmental changes, process data, and communicate seamlessly within interconnected networks. Typically, such devices integrate low-power radio transmitters and multiple smart sensors, hence enabling efficient functionality across wide ranges of applications. Alongside these technological developments, the concept of the IoT has emerged as a transformative paradigm, facilitating the interconnection of uniquely identifiable devices through internet-based networks. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive ex
... Show MoreTo detect the amount of Rifampicin in bulk and medicinal dosage formulations, an accurate, and cost-effective UV spectrophotometric technique has been developed using the area under the peak to estimate the presence of Rifampicin. This range of wavelengths (300–356) nm was chosen. The method showed linearity in the 2-22 μg/mL range, with R2 being 0.9996. The developed method' linearity, detection limit, quantification limit, precision, repeatability, and accuracy were all statistically and experimentally validated. The suggested methodology can be used for routine quality control analysis of Rifampicin in pure form and in capsule dosage form, as demonstrated by the satisfactory recovery percentage results. This study explores the struct
... Show MoreHypothesis CO2 geological storage (CGS) involves different mechanisms which can store millions of tonnes of CO2 per year in depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs and deep saline aquifers. But their storage capacity is influenced by the presence of different carboxylic compounds in the reservoir. These molecules strongly affect the water wetness of the rock, which has a dramatic impact on storage capacities and containment security. However, precise understanding of how these carboxylic acids influence the rock’s CO2-wettability is lacking. Experiments We thus systematically analysed these relationships as a function of pressure, temperature, storage depth and organic acid concentrations. A particular focus was on identifying organic acid conce
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