COMPARATIVE STUDY: THE ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF MELISSA IN RELATIONS TO OTHER PLANTS IN THE REGION OF SETIF, ALGERIA

Antibacterial properties of essential oils, hydro ethanoicextracts, and aqueous bactericidal extracts of four medical plants, known for their therapeutic effects: Melissa officinalis , Origanum vulgare , Lavandula angustifolia and Mentha piperita. The last three are largely used in Algeria; however, Melissa appears to be less famous. The following work has been executed in a laboratory for the purpose of, yet again, revealing and confirming the benefits of Melissa, and comparing it to other plants. Two microorganisms have been used: Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Using the method of Aromatogram with essential oils, Melissa was active the most with zones of inhibition of 8 mm for Escherichia coli and 7 mm for Staphylococcus aureus. Applying the same method for hydro ethanoicextracts, Melissa was effective the most with a 50 mm zone of inhibition for Escherichia coli, followed by mint (40 mm zone of inhibition). As for Staphylococcus aureus, Melissa presented a 14 mm zone of inhibition, while mint displayed a zone of inhibition of 13 mm. Using the bioassay method with essential oils, Melissa has the best effect with a 40 mm zone of inhibition for Escherichia coli and 35mm for Staphylococcus aureus. Always with the same technique but with hydro ethanoicextracts, both Melissa and Mint presented the best inhibition value of 50 mm for Escherichia coli. As for Staphylococcus aureus, Melissa presented a 26 mm zone of inhibition, followed by mint with 24 mm. For the spectrophotometry technique, almost all four plants, witht heir aqueous extracts, presented a antibacterial activity for both bacteria. These results confirm the strong anti- bacterial and bactericidal activity of the four plants, especially Melissa, and their diverse traditional use

Epidemiology and antimicrobial resistance of <em>Streptococcus agalactiae</em> isolated in Alger from confirmed neonatal infections and from vaginal carriage settings

International audienc

Mechanical properties of anorthite based ceramics prepared from kaolin DD2 and calcite

Abstract Good quality ceramics costs a lot that has limited their use in developing countries. This work was devoted to prepare low-cost and good quality anorthite based ceramics. The proposed composition was 80 wt% kaolin (DD2 type) and 20 wt% calcium oxide (CaO). The choice of these raw materials was dictated by their natural abundance coupled with a modified milling system, as another interesting advantage. Previous studies have shown that a simple vibratory multidirectional milling system using bimodal distribution of highly resistant ceramic milling elements has been successfully applied for obtaining fine powders. The influence of the relatively lower sintering temperature, ranging from 800 to 1100 °C, on the porosity and the average pore size (APS) have been investigated. The APS and the porosity values of samples sintered at 950 °C were about 1 μm and 4%, respectively. The best Vickers microhardness and 3-point bending strength values for these sintered samples, using this proposed milling system, were 7.1 GPa and 203 MPa, respectively. Finally, the crystalline phase evolution during heat treatment was investigated by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy techniques

Evolution of antimicrobial resistance and serotype distribution of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolated from children with invasive and noninvasive pneumococcal diseases in Algeria from 2005 to 2012

Pneumococcal infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries. The introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) has dramatically reduced the incidence of pneumococcal diseases. PCVs are not currently being used in Algeria. We conducted a prospective study from 2005 to 2012 in Algeria to determine antimicrobial drug resistance and serotype distribution of Streptococcus pneumoniae from children with pneumococcal disease. Among 270 isolated strains from children, 97 (36%) were invasive disease; of these, 48% were not susceptible to penicillin and 53% not susceptible to erythromycin. A high rate of antimicrobial nonsusceptibility was observed in strains isolated from children with meningitis. The serotype distribution from pneumococci isolated from children with invasive infections was (by order of prevalence): 14, 1, 19F, 19A, 6B, 5, 3, 6A and 23F. Multidrug resistance was observed in serotypes 14, 19F, 19A and 6B. The vaccine coverage of serotypes isolated from children aged <5 years was 55.3% for PCV7, 71.1% for PCV10 and 86.8% for PCV13. Our results highlight the burden of pneumococcal disease in Algeria and the increasing S. pneumoniae antibiotic resistance. The current pneumococcal vaccines cover a high percentage of the circulating strains. Therefore, vaccination would reduce the incidence of pneumococcal disease in Algeria

Valorization of Paper Mill Sludge as Adsorbent in Adsorption Process of Copper (II) Ion from Synthetic Solution: Kinetic, Isotherm and Thermodynamic Studies

This study investigates the process conditions of the adsorption of copper (II) ion onto paper mill sludge (PMS) in a batch process. These conditions are: concentration of initial solution, contact time, temperature and quantity of the adsorbent. Characteristic properties of PMS employed as an adsorbent in the experiments were defined using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and elemental analyses. According to the obtained results, while the amount of removed copper (II) ion increased with an increase in the rate of the adsorbent and contact time, it decreased as a result of an increase in the temperature and initial solution concentration. Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) isotherms were implemented for the determination of the most appropriate isotherm model for the experimental data, and it was found that the process is in concordance with Langmuir equation. The maximum adsorption capacity of PMS was calculated as 114.42 mg g. In kinetic studies, the adsorption process of copper (II) ion onto PMS was controlled by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The calculated activation value ( was 38.61 kJ mol and demonstrates that the process occurred by physical adsorption mechanism. The values of the thermodynamic parameters such as enthalpy (, free energy () (-8.883 kJ mol) and entropy ( (0.101 kJ mol K) changes were determined to estimate the nature of the process. The results clearly showed that the process was of exothermic and spontaneous nature and that PMS could be utilized as an adsorbent for the removal of copper (II) ion from wastewater