Spices are natural substances taken from special plants and have a different taste when added to food and some of them have great benefits for health and body. These plants vary from country to country depending on the type of soil and how they are grown and this affects their quality. In this study, the specific activity of 40K, 238U and 232Th series and 137Cs in some selected natural food spices commonly used in Iraq kitchen were determined using gamma spectrometry and the ingested doses via food consumption were also assessed. The average specific activity of 40K, 238U, 232Th and 137Cs in the samples are 72.00 Bqkg−1, 106.576Bqkg−1, 148.74 and 191.88 Bq.kg−1 respectively. The highest activity concentration of 40K, 238U, 232Th and 137Cs was recorded in cumin (401.7) for 40K, laurel paper (260.67) for 238U, briana spices (733.7) for 232Th and Chamomile (833.4) for 137Cs. The maximum value of total annual effective dose received from 40K, 238U, 232Th and 137Cs due to consumption of natural spices by the inhabitants was 169.83 μSvy−1. This value is low compared to the average radiation dose of 290 μSvy−1 received per caput worldwide due to ingestion the food spices. The excess lifetime cancer risk due to ingestion of radionuclide in food spices was estimated and the values obtained were compared with standards. Based on these results it can be concluded that the foods spices studied in this work do not present any serious radiological effect. Spices are natural substances taken from special plants and have a different taste when added
Coral reef area in northwest of the Arabian Gulf was investigated for mineralogy and geochemistry to throw lights on such unique Iraqi Marine Environment; six specimens of two main species of coral reefs, Platygyra pini Chevalier, 1975 and Octocoral Menella were collected at two sites. While eight samples of the surrounding sediments are chosen from other two sites. The mineralogy is determined by XRD, and reveals that calcite, low magnesium-calcite, and aragonite are the main minerals that comprise the Octocoral Menella in site 1, whilst aragonite and calcite are dominate in the P. pini coral reef at site 4.
The non–carbonate fractions indicate that thes
... Show MoreObjectives: The study involving 20 SARS CoV patients found that elevated microRNA levels, specifically miR-23a overexpression and miR-195-F1gene downregulation, could serve as potential diagnostic factors for COVID-19 infections, potentially aiding in early detection. Materials and Methods: 20 patients suffered from coronavirus (SARS CoV) (Patient group) and ten samples of healthy persons (control group). The blood sample was collected from the patients who attended Al-Zafaraniyah General Hospital, Fatima-Alzahra Hospital, and Al-Yarmook Teaching Hospital in Baghdad City. Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs for each patient were taken simultaneously and added immediately into viral transport media (VTM). The microRNAs in the seru
... Show MoreThis research was conducted to measure the safety of heat stable enterotoxin a (STa) produced by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, through studying its toxic effect on human blood lymphocyte, since it showed a promising effect in reducing the proliferation of colorectal cancer cells. the cytogenetic effects of (STa) by using five different concentrations (100, 200, 400, 800 and 1600μg/ml) in comparison with negative (PBS, Phosphate buffer saline) and positive (MMC, Mitomycin C) at concentration of 5μg/ml, controls on human blood lymphocytes obtained from both (10) normal healthy persons and (20) colorectal cancer patients was measured by employing the following parameters: mitotic index, blast index, chromosomal aberrations and micronucle
... Show MoreBackground: The menopause is physiological changes in women that give rise to adaptive changes at both systemic and oral level. During menopause, ovarian function declines and the production of sex steroid hormones reduces significantly affecting the oral tissues and periodontal structures leading to chronic inflammation of the gingiva, increased risk of tooth loss. Aim of study: The present study was designed to estimate the oral hygiene status in relation to salivary estradiol level among pre and post-menopausal women. Materials and Methods: Ninety women aged 48-52 years old, the control group consisted of 45 pre-menopausal women and the study group consisted of 45 post-menopause were examined for gingival index, plaque index and calcu
... Show MoreBackground: The genetic polymorphisms of vitamin D receptor (VDR) have an association with thalassemia development, additionally to the environmental elements that elicited the disorder in the genetically predisposed individuals. As well, VDR functions responsible for the regulation of bone metabolism, such its part in immunity. Aim: The sitting study intended to inspect the association between thalassemia disease and the genetic polymorphisms of VDR among the Iraqi population then compared these findings to other findings of thalassemia patients in other different ethnic populations. Materials and methods: The restriction enzymes Bsm-I and Fok-I were applied to determine the genetic polymorphisms frequencies of VDR by a Polymerase Chain Re
... Show MoreA case-control study was performed to examine age, gender, and ABO blood groups in 1014 Iraqi hospitalized cases with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and 901 blood donors (control group). The infection was molecularly diagnosed by detecting coronavirus RNA in nasal swabs of patients.
Mean age was significantly elevated in cases compared to controls (48.2 ± 13.8