In this study, the dung beetles Aphodius (Bodilus) ictericus (Laicharting, 1781) and Aphodius (Planolinellus) vittatus Say, 1825 which belongs to the family of Aphodiidae (Order: Coleoptera) are redscribed here as to being found for the first time in Iraq.

    The specimens were collected from different regions in the middle of Iraq; the main diagnostic characters and some morphological features of males were drawn and pictured.

The aim of this study is to synthesize an easy, non-toxic and eco-friendly method. Silver nanoparticles which were synthesized by leaf extract of mint were characterized by UV-Visible Spectroscopy which appears UVVisible spectrum of demonstrated a peak 448 nm corresponding to surface Plasmon resonance of silver nanoparticles, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR); functional groups involved in the silver nanoparticles synthesis were identified, the presence of silver nanoparticles was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) analysis clearly illustrated that the shape of silver nanoparticles was spherical and the size of the silver nanoparticles has been measured as 55- 85 nm. Evaluation of its antimic

Faujasite type NaY zeolite catalyst was prepared from locally available kaolin, then the prepared NaY zeolite have been modified by exchanging of sodium ion with ammonium to produce NH4Y zeolite. NH4Y zeolite was converted to HY zeolite by ion exchanging with oxalic acid. Zinc and nickel promoters have been added to the prepared HY zeolite catalyst, and the effect of these promoters on the catalytic activity of the prepared HY catalyst was studied in fluid catalytic cracking process using light gas oil as a feedstock. The experimental results show that the promoted catalyst gives higher gas oil conversion and gasoline yield than HY zeolite catalyst at the same reaction temperature and WHSV. It was also found that the promoted catalyst gi

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurodegenerative disorder with various clinical types. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is significantly elevated in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of MS patients compared with that of healthy controls. The aim of this study is to evaluate serum levels of GFAP in relation to disease activity in relapsing-remitting MS patients and to compare them with those of healthy controls. Method: This study involved 58 MS patients of relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) type, 22 in an active stage of the disease and 36 in remission, and 50 healthy individuals as age- and sex-matched controls. Blood samples were taken from the patients at the MS Clinic of the Baghdad Teaching Hospital, and the serum levels of GFAP were determ

Clausena excavata (Lour.), locally known as “Kemantu hitam,” is a common plant in Malaysian folklore medicine. This study evaluated the antioxidant properties of the solvent extracts of C. excavata leaves and determined the acute toxicity of methanolic extract C. excavata (MECE) leaves in Sprague‐Dawley rats. Harvested leaves were dried and subjected to solvent extraction using petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol in succession. The antioxidant activity of each extract was determined using the ferric‐reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picryl dihydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity. The total pheno

In this paper, investigates the biosynthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) by biochemical method using Myrtus communis leaves extract as reducing agent and Chloroauric acid (HAuCl4) as precursors. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and FTIR were used in addition to UV-visible spectroscopy (UV) in order to characterize the AuNPs. The biosynthesized AuNPs exhibited inhibitory effects on alpha amylase and alkaline phosphatase in sera of patient with type 2 Diabetes Miletus and the sera of healthy control subjects; the inhibition percentage with alpha amylase was 72 % and 45 % for patient and control group respectively. Oral consent obtained from the most of patients and healthy subjects before them being under

  Foot and ankle movements are essential in various activities like walking, running, and balance, where the mechanics of these movements are affected by the muscles around the ankle joint [1,2]. In this study, the correlations between isometric ankle torque and muscle activity of the tibialis anterior (TA) and gastrocnemius (GAS) in the course of dorsiflexion and plantarflexion was investigated. Eight healthy participants were enrolled for the study, where the ankle torque and surface Electromyography (sEMG) of the main flexors were measured and analyzed. The results showed that ankle torque is higher in plantarflexion than dorsiflexion. In addition, the TA has greater muscle activity during dorsiflexion, while the GAS presents higher ac

Arum maculatum is traditionally used for the control of many diseases and illnesses such as kidney pain, liver injury, hemorrhoids. However, the detailed biomedical knowledge about this species is still lacking. This study reports on the bioactive components and the possible mechanisms underlying the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activity of A. maculatum leaf extract. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used for phytochemical analysis. Assay of 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide ) (MTT) was used to determine the cytotoxicity in the murine cell line L20B upon exposure to different extract concentrations for 24 h. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect pro-in