Abstract Aim: Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder which affects communication and social interaction of children. It is a heterogeneous disease with various clinical presentations. Some genes are involved in its pathogenesis. It has been suggested that environmental exposure to lead can increase the risk of autism. The aim of our study was to compare blood lead levels among autistic and non-autistic children. Material and Method: This retrospective study included 107 children (60 with autism and 47 without autism) referred from the different Iraqi provinces, in the years 2015, 2016 and 2017, to the poisoning consultation center in Baghdad. Data collection including age, gender, residence, referral source, family history and blood lead levels was taken from their medical records. Results: No significant differences were noticed between the prevalence of autism and both of age (P=0.843) and gender (P=0.699). The majority of children have no family history of autism (85%). Mean blood lead level for all participants was 16.01 μg/dl. The statistically significant difference in lead level was found between autistic and non-autistic children (17.38± 1.86 μg/dl in autism group versus 14.27± 1.57 μg/dl in non-autism group) with a P value of 0.001. Discussion: Mean blood lead level was high in all participants, compared to the international values, which might indicate a high level of lead exposure in Iraqi children due to environmental pollution. Autistic children have higher lead levels than non-autistic ones and this might explain the role of lead in the etiology of autism.
Semiconductor-based photocatalytic processes are widely applied as ecofriendly technology for degrading organic pollutants. Establishing photocatalytic heterojunctions with Z-type photocarriers transfer pathways is projected to be a superb strategy to enhance photocatalytic behavior. In this paper, novel and stable (0D/2D) heterojunctions of CoS-embedded boron-doped g-C3N4 (CoS/BCN) with a high rate of charges transfer/separation were assembled for degradation of malachite green dye (MG). The CoS/BCN photocatalyst achieves a photodegradation efficiency of 96.9 % within 1 h of LED illumination, which is 2.5 and 1.4-fold enhancement compared with bare g-C3N4 and BCN, respectively. Besides, the results of species-trapping trials exhibited that
... Show MoreThe experiment was conducted in two stages: first stage: determination of the most effective dose of Cyperus rotundus tubers aquatic extract in male rats for 5 days, which was concentrated as (200 mg/kg body weight). The second stage was designed to observe and test the protective effects of C. rotundus tubers aquatic extract in the liver and kidney functions of male rats exposed to cadmium chloride poisoning (5 mg/kg bw) for 30 days. The animals were divided into (4) groups within each group (5) animals weighted (200-220g). The results of oral dose of cadmium chloride showed a significant increase of (P˂0.05) in the activity of both enzymes Alanine aminotransferas
... Show MoreThis study was conducted to investigate the relationship between corticosterone hormone in the blood of local Iraqi white chicken mothers and the sexual ratio of the hatching chicks. A field experiment located at the Poultry Research Station, Livestock Department, Agricultural Research Department, Ministry of Agriculture for the period from 16 of September 2018 to 25 of December 2018. One hundred and forty birds of Iraqi local chicken mothers (100 females+ 40 males) at the age of 28 weeks were provided from the poultry research station. The birds were raised in individual cages and distributed sequentially to the cages after the numbering of the females. Data were recorded in three periods, each period was of 28 days, and then the general a
... Show MoreThis research aims to clarify the importance of an accounting information system that uses artificial intelligence to detect earnings manipulation. The research problem stems from the widespread manipulation of earning in economic entities, especially at the local level, exacerbated by the high financial and administrative corruption rates in Iraq due to fraudulent accounting practices. Since earning manipulation involves intentional fraudulent acts, it is necessary to implement preventive measures to detect and deter such practices. The main hypothesis of the research assumes that an accounting information system based on artificial intelligence cannot effectively detect the manipulation of profits in Iraqi economic entities. The researche
... Show MoreThe adsorption process of 5-Fluorouracil (5FU) drugs on Aluminum nitride nanotubes surface (AlNNTs) have been evaluated through density functional theory (DFT). The DFT results show that the interaction of AlNNTs with the F atoms of 5FU drugs is strong due to the fact that the amount of adsorption energy was about − 29.65 kcal.mol−1. Conversely, the interaction of the 5FU through O atoms with the AlNNTs was weaker due to the lower value of adsorption energy. Also, based on the values of Gibbs free energy, the 5FU adsorption on the surfaces of AlNNTs was spontaneous. In addition, based on natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis, the direction of charge transfer was from fluorine’s σ orbitals of the drug to nitrogen’s and aluminum’s n*
... Show MoreThe aim of the current research is to identify the effect of the active thinking model in the achievement of students of the fifth grade applied science of physics, and their pivotal thinking by verifying the two zero hypotheses, where there is no significant difference at the level of significance (0.05) between the average scores of the experimental group who studied physics using the active thinking model and the average scores of the control group students who studied the same material in the usual way in the achievement test, as well as in the pivotal thinking test. The research sample consisted of (77) students of the applied fifth grade students in two divisions (a) and (b), randomly selected (a) to be the experimental group, and (b)
... Show MoreBackground: Cyclophosphamide (Cpd), a common immunosuppressive and chemotherapeutic drug, can cause hepatotoxicity by inducing inflammation and oxidative stress. Dapagliflozin (Dapa) and other sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, and Silymarin is a natural compound extracted from the seeds of the milk thistle plant (Silybum marianum). It is best known for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and hepatoprotective effects.Objective: By measuring oxidative stress, inflammation, and liver regeneration parameters, with an emphasis on the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway and hepatocyte nuclear factors (HNF4α and HNF6), Dapa's hepatoprotective effects in comparison to Sil on Cpd-induced liv
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