Objectives: Umbilical cord blood can be taken at birth and largely gives indication of fetal and maternal conditions. The aim of the study was to investigate the relation between sex hormones in cord blood and birth weight of newborns and pregnancy complications. Methods: Fifty cord blood samples were collected from newborns at labor room of Baghdad Teaching Hospital between May and October 2018. Blood was withdrawn from their mothers for lead analysis. Five milliliters (ml) of cord blood was taken, 3 ml was used for testosterone and estradiol analysis (using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) and 2 ml for lead measurement by lead care analyzer. Newborns weight and head circumference were measured. Delivered women were divided into four groups: Women with normal pregnancy, women with pre-eclampsia, diabetic women and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) women. Results: There was no significant difference in age between women in all groups (P > 0.05). Birth weights, estradiol, and testosterone were significantly different between groups. Estradiol was higher in cord blood of newborns of PCOS women (P < 0.05) than others. Testosterone was higher in cord blood of babies of PCOS and pre-eclampsia women compared with those of diabetes (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences between male and female neonates regarding cord estradiol (3596.27 ± 1934.69, 3714.57 ± 1581.47 pg/ml respectively), and testosterone (393.18 ± 87.14, 361.43 ± 102.14 ng/ml respectively) (P > 0.05). Maternal lead levels correlated positively with cord lead (r = 0.905, P < 0.05), which correlated negatively with head circumference (r = −0.766, P < 0.05). Birth weight correlated negatively with estradiol (r = −0.295), but positively with testosterone (r = 0.006) (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Cord blood estradiol and testosterone levels do not differ between males and females. Estradiol was high in cord blood of PCOS mothers. Testosterone was high in cord blood of PCOS and pre-eclampsia mothers. The increase in cord lead causes decrease in babies head circumference.
The concentration of radon gas in the samples for drinking water and wells in the same place from selected homes in which wells were built in the Hay-al-Bayaa region of Baghdad was measured, by using a CR-39 nuclear track detector. It turns out that the maximum value of the concentration of radon in drinking water was 3.83 Bq/L, and the lowest was 2.30 Bq/L. As for the estimation of radon gas concentration in well water samples, the highest value was 5.6 Bq/L, while the lowest one was 3.1 Bq/L. In order to assess the committed effective dose received by the public due to the inhalation of radon gas. The highest value of the annual effective dose in drinking water was recorded in Al-Bayaa region, which is equal to 14.30 μSv/y, while th
... Show MoreThe measurements of major and trace elements in different brands of milk powder selected from the Iraqis market via the X-ray fluorescence (XRF) Technique have been studied in the present work. The result of the measurements reveals the high concentrations of sodium, phosphorus, sulfur, chlorine, potassium, calcium and magnesium. Furthermore, low concentrations of aluminum, silicon, iron, bromine, molybdenum, iodine, barium, titanium, manganese, cobalt, chrome, nickel, copper, zinc and lead were detected. Neutron activation analysis (NAA) and Kjeldahl technique were also employed to determine the concentrations of nitrogen. It was found that the nitrogen concentration was in the range of (1.96 - 3.23) % which is within the permissible li
... Show MoreThe aim of this study was to evaluate the biological importance of the magnitude of oxidative stress, antioxidant and the levels of nitric oxide (NO) in the female patients infected with Toxoplasma gondii by analyzing the levels of erythrocyte malondialdehyde (MDA) as an indicator for the oxidative stress and erythrocyte reduced glutathione (GSH) level as indicator for the antioxidant status and serum nitric oxide levels. This prospective study was conducted on fifty female patients with toxoplasmosis and thirty normal healthy females of comparable age and sex were considered as normal control. A statistically significant difference was found between patients and control group in terms of MDA, GSH and NO levels. A decrease i
... Show MoreMechanical degradation hampers the practical usage of polymers for turbulent drag reduction
application. Mechanical degradation refers to the chemical process in which the activation energy of
polymer chain scission is exceeded by mechanical action on the polymer chain, and bond rupture
occurs. When a water-soluble polymer and surfactant are mixed in water solution, the specific structures
(aggregates) are formed, in which polymer film is formed around micelle. In this work, Xanthan gum (XG) –
Sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SELS) complex formation and its effect on percentage viscosity reduction
(%VR) was studied. It was found that SELS surfactant reduced the mechanical degradation of XG much
more efficiently than th
An anatomical study was carried out at the College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, University of Baghdad, in 2017, on lupine crop (Lupinus albus) as a comparison guide of three seed weights of three lupine cultivars viz. ‘Giza-1’, ‘Giza-2’ and ‘Hamburg’. The nested design was used with four replications. The results showed that cultivars had a significant effect on stem anatomical traits. ‘Hamburg’ cultivar recorded the highest stem diameter, cortex thickness and xylem vascular diameter, while cultivar ‘Giza-1’ recorded the lowest values for the same traits as well as the highest collenchyma layer thickness, vascular bundle thickness, and xylem thickness. Cultivar ‘Giza-2’ recorded the lowest vascular bundle th
... Show MoreAn anatomical study was carried out at the College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, University of Baghdad, in 2017, on lupine crop (Lupinus albus) as a comparison guide of three seed weights of three lupine cultivars viz. ‘Giza-1’, ‘Giza-2’ and ‘Hamburg’. The nested design was used with four replications. The results showed that cultivars had a significant effect on stem anatomical traits. ‘Hamburg’ cultivar recorded the highest stem diameter, cortex thickness and xylem vascular diameter, while cultivar ‘Giza-1’ recorded the lowest values for the same traits as well as the highest collenchyma layer thickness, vascular bundle thickness, and xylem thickness. Cultivar ‘Giza-2’ recorded the lowest vascular b
... Show MoreBackground: Obesity is becoming the healthcare epidemic world wide.Obesity is associated with reduced life expectancy, increased morbidity and mortality, and greater healthcare costs.Bariatric surgery is the only effective treatment for morbid obesity and is gaining increasing popularity. There has been a steady rise in the numbers and types of bariatric operations done worldwide in recent years butnon of prove to be ideal .Animal studies and use of animal models are significant element in the evolution of medical knowledge and the use of animals as a model for bariatric surgery is of importance to study the mechanisms of these operationsa and also help to develop new technique in management of obesity.Objectives:Study of effects of slee
... Show MoreObjective(s): To evaluate nurses' practices who work in respiratory intensive care units to control the
complications of patients admitted at this unit and determine the relationship between nurses' sociodemographic
characteristics and their practices.
Methodology: A descriptive study was carried out at Respiratory Care Unit at Baghdad teaching hospitals that
started from February 22th, 2013 to August 30th, 2013. A purposive "non-probability" sample of (70) nurses who
work in Respiratory Care Unit was selected from Baghdad teaching hospitals. The data were collected through the
use of constructed questionnaire that consists of two parts; (l) Demographic data form that consists of 7items and
(2) nurses' practice form