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.
A general and accurate morphological study was carried out for the species Calotropis procera which belongs to the family Asclepiadaceae. The research included the phenotypic characteristics of the root, stem and leaves the leaves were studied morphologically and anatomically, Flowers, fruits and seeds, as well as the geographical distribution of the genus were studied also. In general, there are no previous taxonomic study of this genus under consideration, according to the available sources and it is the first one has been done in Iraq, perhaps Because of its low prevalence previously, where it was recently noticed its spread in last two to three years ago. Keywords: Apocynaceae, Apple Sodom, Poisonous Plant, Anatomy
Samples (4th) reviewed are deposited and stored in the Iraqi Natural History Museum (INHM), and there are 4th of them. Sciurus anomalous (Güldenstädt, 1785) species are preserved and mummified. It is a Caucasian squirrel (S. anomalus) that was medium in size, with a grayish-to-chestnut color, a golden gray back, and a golden tail. It is found in the forests of East and Southeast Asia. The variety possessed for the study was previously registered in the vertebrate literature by several authors and was stored by scientific methods in the museum. As a result of the multiplication and growth of these species, and to know the environmental changes that occurred in them, they were compared with models and samples found throughout Iraq
... Show MoreA total 474 argasid ticks removed from 617 hosts including bats, rodents, and birds were found belong to four species of the genus Argos. One of which A. reflexus is reported for the first time for Iraq. Some informations regarding the infestation rate, intensity and some biological data are provided.
The political situation experienced by Iraq before the events of 2003 that led to the collapse of infrastructure. rebuilding costs were estimated after 2003 by187(million USD) according to the estimates of the basic needs as stated in Five-Year Plan 2010-2014. The difficult in financing projects and the continuous demands for maintenance and operating cost, and working by contemporary styles in different countries, the strategic option is to adopt the government entering the private sector as a partner in the development process. Since public _private partnership (PPP's) is at a germinating stage of development in Iraq, it has been studied the critical success factors(CSF's) in the experiences of countries that have implemented the style
... Show MoreThe research aims to identify the effect of jigsaw strategy in learning achievement and engaging for the third grade intermediate students in chemistry. The research sample consisted of (61) students distributed in two experimental and control groups. The research tools consisted in the achievement test and the measure of engaging learning. The results showed that there are statistically significant differences at the level of (α = 0.05) between the experimental group and the control group in both the achievement test and the measure of learning involvement for the benefit of the experimental group. In this light, the researcher recommended the use of jigsaw strategy for teaching the subject matter. Lamia because of its impact in raising
... Show MoreThe field study of this paper focused on the motives for lawyers to use the website
of the Supreme Judicial Council, and the gratifications achieved as a result of its use.
This study sought to achieve a number of goals, including:
1. Monitoring the patterns of lawyers’ use of the website of the Supreme Judicial Council.
2. Determining the forms that lawyers use to interact on the website of the Supreme
Judicial Council.
This study is a descriptive in kind as the researcher relied on the ‘survey method’ in
its study of the external audience (lawyers) using the questionnaire and scale toolThe questionnaire was distributed among a deliberately chosen sample, consisting of
(160) lawyers who used the website of