A faunistic review of the genus Chaitophorus Koch, 1854, including four species in Iraq is given; the distribution data of each species and their hosts have been recorded. In this investigation the poplar leaf aphid Ch. populialbae (Boyer de Fonscolombe, 1841) is recorded here for the first time in Iraq on popular trees Populus euphratica Oliv. during the period from November 2016 to April 2017 in Baghdad province.

    A brief description for apterous viviparous female of this species is given; and a  key to the species of the genus Chaitophorus is constricted.

In this work, solid random gain media were fabricated from laser dye solutions containing nanoparticles as scattering centers. Two different rhodamine dyes (123 and 6G) were used to host the highly-pure titanium dioxide nanoparticles to form the random gain media. The spectroscopic characteristics (mainly fluorescence) of these media were determined and studied. These random gain media showed laser emission in the visible region of electromagnetic spectrum. Fluorescence characteristics can be controlled to few nanometers by adjusting the characteristics of the host and nanoparticles as well as the preparation conditions of the samples. Emission of narrow linewidth (3nm) and high intensity in the visible region (533-537nm) was obtained.

A total of 30 specimens of house sparrow Passer domesticus biblicus Hartert, 1904 (15 females and 15 males) were collected from gardens of some houses in Baghdad city; all birds were dissected to identify the parasites in vesicle, gizzard, intestine, gall bladder and caecum. One species of trematodes Brachydistomum microscelis (Yamaguti, 1933) was found in the gall bladder and two species of cestodes Anonchotaenia globata (von Linstow, 1879) and Raillietina tetragona (Molin, 1858) were found in the small intestine of house sparrow. Morphologic and morphometric measurements were considered.

   The genus Brachydistomum Travassos, 1944 is being recorded for the first time in Iraq in the gall bladder of house sparr

The virulent genes are the key players in the ability of the bacterium to cause disease. The products of such genes that facilitate the successful colonization and survival of the bacterium in or cause damage to the host are pathogenicity determinants. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of virulence factors (esp, agg, gelE, CylA) in E. faecalis isolated from diverse human clinical collected in Iraqi patient , as well as to assess their ability to form biofilm and to determine their haemolytic and gelatinase activities. Thirty-two isolates of bacteria Enterococcus faecalis were obtained, including 15 isolates (46.87%) of the urine, 6 isolates (18.75%) for each of the stool and uterine secretions, and 5 isolates (15.62%) of the wo

Thirty three specimens of the blue-cheeked bee-eater were collected at central and southern Iraq from April 1997 to October 2000. Two nematodes Hadjelia truncata and Syphaciella capensis, were recovered from the alimentary tract. Reporting these two nematodes represents the first record for Iraq as well as a new host record.

Azo dyes like methyl orange (MO) are very toxic components due to their recalcitrant properties which makes their removal from wastewater of textile industries a significant issue. The present study aimed to study their removal by utilizing aluminum and Ni foam (NiF) as anodes besides Fe foam electrodes as cathodes in an electrocoagulation (EC) system. Primary experiments were conducted using two Al anodes, two NiF anodes, or Al-NiF anodes to predict their advantages and drawbacks. It was concluded that the Al-NiF anodes were very effective in removing MO dye without long time of treatment or Ni leaching at in the case of adopting the Al-Al or NiF-NiF anodes, respectively. The structure and surface morphology of the NiF electrode were inves

In this work, solid random gain media were fabricated from laser dye solutions containing nanoparticles as scattering centers. Two different rhodamine dyes (123 and 6G) were used to host the highly-pure titanium dioxide nanoparticles to form the random gain media. The spectroscopic characteristics (mainly fluorescence) of these media were determined and studied. These random gain media showed laser emission in the visible region of electromagnetic spectrum. Fluorescence characteristics can be controlled to few nanometers by adjusting the characteristics of the host and nanoparticles as well as the preparation conditions of the samples. Emission of narrow linewidth (3nm) and high intensity in the visible region (533-537nm) was obtained.

Background: Neural tube defects (NTDs) are said to be inherited in a multifactorial fashion, i.e. genetic-environmental interaction. Maternal nutritional deficiencies had long been reported to cause NTDs, especially folate deficiency during early pregnancy. More attention had been paid to the exact mechanism by which this deficiency state causes these defects in the developing embryo. The most significant of all researches was that connecting reduced folate and increased homocysteine level in maternal serum on one hand and the risk of developing a NTD baby on the other hand. Objectives : to determine the significance of homocysteine level in Iraqi mothers who gave birth to babies with NTDs as compared to normal controls. Patients, Materials

Elevated Interleukin-13 (IL-13) may play an important role in the pathophysiology of COVID-19, yet, the attenuated response did not notice across all severe cases. Susceptibility to asthma in specific populations is associated with several SNPs of multifunctional cytokines, such as IL-13, IL-31 and IL-33. This prospective case-control study is designed to investigate the extent of genetic susceptibility in subsets of Iraqi patients with COVID-19 by targeting the variants of interleukin IL-13rs20541 polymorphism in relation to disease susceptibility and severity of clinical presentation. One hundred samples were obtained from the throat, nasopharyngeal and nasal swabs enrolled in this study. Eighty samples of the throat, nasopharyngeal and