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
In this work, the total linear attenuation coefficients µ(cm
-1
) were calculated and studied
for particulate reinforced polymer-based composites. Unsaturated polyester (UP) resin was
used as a matrix filled with different concentrations of Al, Fe, and Pb metal powders as
reinforcements. The effect of the metal powders addition at different weight percentages in
the range of (10,20,30,40,50)wt % and gamma energy on attenuation coefficients was studied.
The results show, as the metallic particulates content increase, the attenuation coefficients will
increase too, while it, were exhibited a decrease in their values when the gamma energy
increase.The total linear attenuation coefficients of gamma ray fo
The development of advanced lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries has gathered noteworthy attention due to their high theoretical energy density and potential for use in next-generation energy storage systems. This study focuses on the thermodynamic and dynamic analysis of advanced Li-S battery electrolytes using spectroscopic methods. By employing techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Raman spectroscopy, and infrared (IR) spectroscopy, the research explores the interaction mechanisms between lithium ions and sulfur compounds within various electrolyte formulations. The results provide insights into the solvation structures, ion transport properties, and the stability of intermediates, which are significant for improving th
... Show MoreSliding Mode Controller (SMC) is a simple method and powerful technique to design a robust controller for nonlinear systems. It is an effective tool with acceptable performance. The major drawback is a classical Sliding Mode controller suffers from the chattering phenomenon which causes undesirable zigzag motion along the sliding surface. To overcome the snag of this classical approach, many methods were proposed and implemented. In this work, a Fuzzy controller was added to classical Sliding Mode controller in order to reduce the impact chattering problem. The new structure is called Sliding Mode Fuzzy controller (SMFC) which will also improve the properties and performance of the classical Sliding Mode control
... Show MoreThis research aims to identify the cognitive distortion of kindergarten children and its relationship to their parenting reinforcement. The researcher used the descriptive approach, being the closest to reaching the study objectives, To measure the relationship between the research variables, the researcher prepared two questionnaire tools for this purpose, the first for measuring "cognitive distortion", And the second is to measure "parental reinforcement", and each tool consisted of (20) items.
After ensuring the validity and reliability of the two research tools and their suitabi
... Show MoreAn Experimental comparison between the current-voltage
characteristic and the efficiency conversion from solar to electric energy were studied for square and circular single crystal silicon solar
cell of equal area (35.28 cm2) . The results show that the solar shape is
an important factor in calculating the current-voltage characteristics and efficiency of the solar cell. It was shown that the performance effici
... Show MoreThe aim of this research is to design and construct a semiconductor laser range finder
operating in the near infrared range for ranging and designation. The main part of the range finder is the
transmitter which is a semiconductor laser type GaAs of 0.904 mm wavelength with a beam expander,
and the receiver with its collecting optics. The characteristics of transmitter pulse width were 200ns and
threshold current 10 Amp. and maximum operating current 38 Amp. The repetition rate was set at 660 Hz
and maximum output power about 1 watt. The divergence of the beam was 0.268o. A special computer
code was used for optimum optical design and laser spot size analysis and for calculation of atmosphere
attenuation.
People with diabetes can develop different foot problems. In the blood stream glucose reacts with hemoglobin to make a glycosylated hemoglobin molecule called hemoglobin A1c or HbA1c, the more glucose in the blood the more hemoglobin A1c will be present in the blood. The HbAlc test is currently one of the best ways to check diabetes to be under control. The aim of study is to compare between the blood investigations which includes the fasting blood sugar and HbAlC (glycosylated hemoglobin), and to evaluate the benefit of HbAlc (measurement for diabetic patients with foot ulcer, to be a good indicator for controlling blood glucose). Sixty patients with type2 diabetes mellitus from the outpatient clinic of Baghdad Teachin
... Show MoreThe optical modulator was designed by using iterated function
systems (IFSs) by IFS Construction Kit program. The modulator was inserted into the optical system using ZEMAX optical design program. In this program, it is assumed that the modulator is made from one of آ the infrared transmitting materials. Eight materials at room temperature were used in this study; these are IRTRAN materials, Si, and Ge for the range of 3-9 l-lm.
Systems were evaluated and analyzed by using different criteria,
including spot diagram, modulation transfer function, and point spread function. The effect of optical modulator change with the chang of آ its material results in focusing of functions and frequencies as requ
... Show MoreThis research studies Reinforcing and applied load of Wear Rate for Epoxy composites contains from epoxy resin (Ep) as a matrix material and reinforced by Gawain red wood flour , Russian white wood flour , glass powder and rock wool fibers , with volume fraction (20%) for all samples in lab conditions. by using the load (10,20 ,30 ,40) Newton of iron disc for testing time(10) minute, and the results have shown that the reinforcing of epoxy resin led to decrease wear rate for all samples except the hybrid composites reinforced earth glass powder , that the wear rate values decrease from (22×10-9g/cm) to (4×10-9g/cm) of composite material(Ep+R.W.F) and thus(Ep+W.W.F) at la
... Show MoreIn Iraq, water shortages and drought, especially during the hot summer months, necessitates that municipal authorities adopt water reuse projects like reusing treated domestic wastewater for crop irrigation. This work gives the conceptual and basic design elements for the necessary steps of filtration, UV irradiation and chlorination to make such a wastewater fit for agricultural use. A typical rural community of 50,000 people is considered as an example case for which functionality and relative simplicity of the proposed designs are prime factors. The objectives are 1) to show what is required and 2) that the presented information may be utilized to embark on the following phases of detailed design and execution of such projects.