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
The aim of this paper was to investigate the removal efficiencies of Zn+2 ions from wastewater by adsorption (using tobacco leaves) and forward osmosis (using cellulose triacetate (CTA) membrane). Various experimental parameters were investigated in adsorption experiment such as: effect of pH (3 - 7), contact time (0 - 220) min, solute concentration (10 - 100) mg/l, and adsorbent dose (0.2 - 5)g. Whereas for forward osmosis the operating parameters studied were: draw solution concentration (10 - 150) g/l, pH of feed solution (4 - 7), feed solution concentration (10 - 100) mg/l. The result showed that the removal efficiency by using adsorption was 70% and the removal efficiency by using forward osmosis was 96.2 %.
... Show MoreIn this paper, Bayes estimators of the parameter of Maxwell distribution have been derived along with maximum likelihood estimator. The non-informative priors; Jeffreys and the extension of Jeffreys prior information has been considered under two different loss functions, the squared error loss function and the modified squared error loss function for comparison purpose. A simulation study has been developed in order to gain an insight into the performance on small, moderate and large samples. The performance of these estimators has been explored numerically under different conditions. The efficiency for the estimators was compared according to the mean square error MSE. The results of comparison by MSE show that the efficiency of B
... Show MoreIn this paper, Bayes estimators of the parameter of Maxwell distribution have been derived along with maximum likelihood estimator. The non-informative priors; Jeffreys and the extension of Jeffreys prior information has been considered under two different loss functions, the squared error loss function and the modified squared error loss function for comparison purpose. A simulation study has been developed in order to gain an insight into the performance on small, moderate and large samples. The performance of these estimators has been explored numerically under different conditions. The efficiency for the estimators was compared according to the mean square error MSE. The results of comparison by MSE show that the efficiency of Bayes est
... Show MoreThe most hazardous class of pharmaceuticals for soil and aquatic ecosystems are antibiotics, which include prescription medications and cancer treatments. Hospital effluents are usually produced by all parts of medical facilities, including hospitals. This study's specific goal was to provide a quick, affordable, and accurate analytical technique for determining the levels of amoxicillin, azithromycin, and penicillin in wastewater from Medical City, Al-Mahmudiya, and Al-Yarmouk hospitals (Iraq, Baghdad). An HPLC with a receptive ODS C18 column was used. It was equipped with UV and pulsed amperometric detectors with wavelengths of 230 nm and 210-240 nm, respectively. The correlation coefficients for each drug are greater than 0.9999,
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For criminal investigations, fingerprints remain the most reliable form of personal identification despite developments in other fields like DNA profiling. The objective of this work is to compare the performance of both commercial charcoal and activated carbon powder derived from the Alhagi plant to reveal latent fingerprints from different non-porous surfaces (cardboard, plain glass, aluminum foil sheet, China Dish, Plastic, and Switch). The effect of three variables on activated carbon production was investigated. These variables were the impregnation ratio (the weight ratio of KOH: dried raw material), the activation temperature, and the activation time. The effect factors were investigated using Central Composite Design
... Show MoreThe electrode in the microbial fuel cell has a significant effect on cell performance. The treatment of the electrode is a crucial step to make the electrode surface more habitable for bacteria growth, thus, increases the power production as well as waste treatment. In the current study, two graphite electrodes were treated by a microwave. The first electrode was treated with 100W microwave energy, while the second one was treated with 600W microwave energy. There is a significant enhancement in the surface of the graphite anode after the pretreatment process. The results show an increase in the power density from 10 mW/m2 to 15 mW/m2 with 100w treatment and to 13.47 mW/m2 with 600w treatment. An organic
... Show MoreThree N-(hydroxylphenyl) dimethylmaleimides were directly prepared in good yields (81-86)% from the reaction of dimethylmaleic anhydride with amino phenols. The prepared imides were esterified to the corresponding benzoates, methacrylates and cinnamates via their reaction with different acid chlorides in the presence of triethylamine. The prepared esters were tested as plasticizers for PVC via preparing of thirty six samples of PVC with the prepared esters in certain weight ratio followed by recording their softening points. Comparison the results with the universal plasticizers for PVC (DOP) and (DBP) indicated that the prepared esters in general have high plasticizing efficiency.