Background: Enterococci are recognized as a cause of nosocomial infections and a major public health problem. The reliable identifi cation to the species level of enterococci should be considered. Objectives: The study aimed to develop a LAMP assay for the rapid and accurate detection of Enterococcus faecalis and E. faecium. Methods: In total, 57 enterococcal isolates from UTI patients were identifi ed using conventional microbiological methods. Two sets of specifi c primers were designed for E. faecalis and E. faecium targeting the mtlf and efmC genes, respectively. The LAMP assays were conducted using specifi c primers, dNTPs, MgSO4, Bst DNA polymerase, and templates. Results: The results of phenotypic testing indicated that of the 57 enterococcal isolates, 49 (85. 9%) were identifi ed as E. faecalis and eight (14. 1%) as E. faecium. The optimal reaction temperatures in the LAMP assays were 60 and 61º C for the detection of E. faecalis and E. faecium, respectively. All the 57 enterococcal isolates were identifi ed as E. faecalis by the LAMP assay. Conclusions: The present study highlights the importance of the LAMP assay as a rapid and confi rmatory tool for the identifi cation of clinical Enterococcus spp.

A study of the [C6H6Ir (PH3) 3]+ iridatropylium cation structure based on frontier orbital analysis, thermodynamic analysis, and natural bond orbital (NBO) theory is the main aim of the present research. Also, HOMO, LUMO energies, hardness, electrophilicity and chemical potential were calculated. Structural analysis indicated the optimized geometry shows a good agreement with the experimental results in iridabenzene.The thermodynamic properties at different temperatures were calculated, revealing the correlations between standard heat capacity, standard entropy, standard enthalpy changes and temperature. Quantum theory of atoms in molecule analysis (QTAIM) was used for characterizing of Ir-P and Ir-c bonds.

In this work, the different fuels (citric acid, glycine and urea) were used for solution combustion synthesis of CoFe2O4 powders. X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, electron microscopy and vibrating sample magnetometry techniques were employed for characterization of phase evolution, cation distribution, microstructure and magnetic properties of the as-combusted CoFe2O4 powders. Single phase CoFe2O4 powders with partially inverse structure in which the Co2+ cations are distributed in both tetrahedral and octahedral sites were synthesized by the citric acid, glycine and urea fuels. The as-combusted CoFe2O4 powders by the citric acid fuel exhibited the highest inversion coefficient. The crystallite size of the as-combusted CoFe2O4 powders synthesized by urea fuel was 15 nm, increased to 41 and 52 nm for the glycine and citric acid fuels, respectively. Furthermore, the solution combusted CoFe2O4 powders showed ferromagnetic behavior with saturation magnetization of 61. 9, 63. 6 and 41. 6 emu/g for the citric acid, glycine and urea fuels, respectively. The high crystallinity and particle size of the as-combusted CoFe2O4 powders using glycine fuel led to the highest magnetization and the moderate coercivity.