Background: Legionella pneumophila (L. pneumophila) is gram-negative bacterium, which causes Legionnaires’ disease as well as Pontiac fever. Objective: To determine the frequency of Legionella pneumophila in pneumonic patients, to determine the clinical utility of diagnosing Legionella pneumonia by urinary antigen testing (LPUAT) in terms of sensitivity and specificity, to compares the results obtained from patients by urinary antigen test with q Real Time PCR (RT PCR) using serum samples and to determine the frequency of serogroup 1 and other serogroups of L. pneumophila. Methods: A total of 100 pneumonic patients (community acquired pneumonia) were enrolled in this study during a period between October 2016 to April 2017; 92 samples were collected from patients attended and admitted to Al-Imamein Al-Kadhimein Medical City and 8 samples from those in the (Center of Kidney Diseases and Transplantation) in the Medical City of Baghdad. All patients were under therapy with antibiotics. Serum and urine specimens were obtained from all patients; urine samples were processed for urinary antigen test (rapid test). Serum samples were collected and submitted to DNA extraction for detection of L. pneumophila mip gene by q RT PCR assay. Results: The percentage of L. pneumophila in two hospitals in Bagdad was 30%. Of these 26% was serogroup 1 detected by urinary antigen testing (UAT). In the other hand, 23% of samples were positive by q RT PCR based mip gene, of these 19 % were serogroup 1 and 4% were another serogroup. The sensitivity of UAT is high (P value < 0.001), which means statistically highly significance than q RT PCR. Conclusion: LPUAT is a rapid tool for early diagnosis of Legionella infection, which highlights the need of using this test in hospitals and health institutions and there is a high prevalence of L. pneumophila in Iraq that refer to the necessity of considering this microorganism point of view in future studies for detection and treatment in pneumonic patients. Keywords: L. pneumophila, mip gene, quantitative real time PCR, urinary antigen. Citation: Gauad SA, Abdulrahman TR, Muhamad AK, Jawad AA, Hassan JS. Clinical utility of urinary antigen test and molecular method for detection of Legionella pneumophila. Iraqi JMS. 2018; 16(2): 207-215. doi: 10.22578/IJMS.16.2.13
Aim: This study aimed to compare different types of ligation methods to obtain maximum tooth movement with the least undesirable rotation. Methods: Titanium brackets bonded to acrylic canine teeth were ligated to straight stainless steel (SS) archwires using four ligation methods (figure-O and figure-8 elastics, SS ligatures, and Leone Slide ligatures). The teeth with the ligatures in place were stored in a water bath at 37ºC for 1 day, 1 week, 2, 4 or 6 weeks before testing. The teeth were retracted through softened wax along the archwire and the amount of tooth movement and degree of rotation were measured. Results: Slide ligatures showed the highest distance of tooth movement and degree of canine rotation followed by figure-O elastics
... Show MoreThe objective of this study is to investigate the application of advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) in the treatment of wastewater contaminated with furfural. The AOPs investigated is the homogeneous photo-Fenton (UV/H2O2/Fe+2) process. The experiments were conducted by using cylindrical stainless steel batch photo-reactor. The influence of different variables: initial concentration of H2O2 (300-1300mg/L), Fe+2(20-70mg/L), pH(2-7) and initial concentration of furfural (50-300 mg/L) and their relationship with the mineralization efficiency were studied.
Complete mineralization for the system UV/H2O2/Fe+2 was achieved at: initi
... Show MoreThe aim of this paper is to present a method for solving of system of first order initial value problems of ordinary differential equation by a semi-analytic technique with constructing polynomial solutions for decreasing dangers of lead. The original problem is concerned using two-point osculatory interpolation with the fit equals numbers of derivatives at the end points of an interval [0 , 1].
Software-defined networks (SDN) have a centralized control architecture that makes them a tempting target for cyber attackers. One of the major threats is distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. It aims to exhaust network resources to make its services unavailable to legitimate users. DDoS attack detection based on machine learning algorithms is considered one of the most used techniques in SDN security. In this paper, four machine learning techniques (Random Forest, K-nearest neighbors, Naive Bayes, and Logistic Regression) have been tested to detect DDoS attacks. Also, a mitigation technique has been used to eliminate the attack effect on SDN. RF and KNN were selected because of their high accuracy results. Three types of ne
... Show MoreThe first molecular research on Iraqi centipede fauna is presented in this article. Between October 2022 and May 2023, during various climatic circumstances, centipedes were collected from several locations in four provinces of Iraq. Three families, represented by four genera, underwent molecular identification, and five species were found. From the order Scolopendromorpha family Scolopendridae, two species were recorded, Scolopendra morsitans Linnaeus, 1758, and S. cingulata Latreille, 1829, Cormocephalus sp.; while from the order Lithobiomorpha, family Lithobiidae, one species was recorded for first time in Iraq; Lithobius crassipes L. Koch, 1862 from the order Geophilomorpha family Himantariidae, one species Bothriogaster Signata
... Show MoreBackground A prospective clinical study was
performed to compare the efficacy of the use of lowmolecular-
weight heparin group (enoxparin group)
with control group in the prevention of deep-vein
thrombosis after total knee arthroplasty.
Aim of the study: to assess the prevalence of DVT
after total knee arthroplasty and evaluate the
importance of the use of low molecular weight
heparin in the prevention of this DVT.
Methods Thirty-three patients undergoing total
knee arthroplasty were randomly divided into two
groups. One group consisted of 12 patients who
received no prophylaxis with an anticoagulant (the
control group), other group consisted of 21 patients
who received the low-molecular-weight h
Background: Decontamination of gutta percha cones was important factor for success of root canal treatment. The aim of the present in vitro study was to identify and to compare the antimicrobial effect of following disinfection solutions: 0.2% chlorhexidine gluconate, Iodine, tetracycline hydrochloride solution, EDTA & formocresol mixed with zinc oxide eugenol, on E faecalis, E coli and Candida albicans using sensitivity test Materials and Methods: Three types of microorganisms were isolated from infected root canals (E faecalis, E coli and Candida albicans) and cultured on Mueller Hinton agar petri-dishes. Disinfection of gutta percha cones done by immersion in six disinfection solutions (six groups), the groups are: distill water (used a
... Show MoreThe primary goal of in-situ load testing is to evaluate the safety and performance of a structural system under particular loading conditions. Advancements in building techniques, analytical tools, and monitoring instruments are prompting the evaluation of the appropriate loading value, loading process, and examination criteria. The procedure for testing reinforced concrete (RC) structures on-site, as outlined in the ACI Building Code, involves conducting a 24-h load test and applying specific evaluation criteria. This article detailed a retrofitting project for an RC slab-beams system by utilizing carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets to strengthen the structure following a fire incident. The RC structure showed indicators of deter
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