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.
The deficit budget, one of the results of increased public spending for their revenues due to the economic pressures imposed by the interest of the economies of those countries from the need to increase government spending in order to revitalize the national economy and accelerate economic growth rates and provide employment to the growing levels of unemployment in those countries opportunities and what is required to address the current debt crisis (borrowing), which has become a big burden on the governments and the need to move towards the application of austerity spending and tax increases, which inevitably forced those countries will be reflected reduced spending on basic aspects of life and their peoples, particularly earners
... Show MoreThe current study presents the cellar spiders genus Nita Huber & El-Hennawy, 2007 (Araneae, Pholcidae) as the first record for Iraq spider fauna, this genus represented by the species Nita elsaff Huber & El-Hennawy, 2007 were identified based on morphological characteristics and DNA sequence data. A short morphological description is also presented for cellar spiders listed in Iraq; including this species in addition to Artema Atlanta Walckenaer, 1837.
Fiscal policy is one of the important economic tools that affect economic development in general and human development in particular through its tools (public revenues, public expenditures, and the general budget).
It was hoped that the effects of fiscal policy during the study period (2004-2007) will positively reflect on human development indicators (health, education, income) by raising these indicators on the ground. After 2003, public revenues in Iraq increased due to increased revenues. However, despite this increase in public budgets, the actual impact on human development and its indicators was not equivalent to this increase in financial revenues. QR The value of the general budget allocations ha
... Show MoreThe study was conducted in the Tigris River in Baghdad during May 2021 until March 2022 to follow the impact of climate change, rising temperatures, and the presence of pollutants on the dynamics of phytoplankton and some physicochemical variables from four sites. The results showed that the climatic conditions during different seasons, in addition to the nature of the sampling sites, have a clear and significant impact on the studied traits and, in turn, affect the phytoplankton community. The highest average temperature (30.67 ˚C) was recorded; the pH values ranged between 8.70 & 6.75; the electrical conductivity (1208.18-770.11 µS/cm ) and the total dissolved solids (TDS) (778.95- 439.49 mg/L) were evaluated. Upon measuring
... Show MoreBioindicators have an important role in assessing the quality of water bodies. Aquatic oligocheates, was used as a bioindicator to assess the sediment quality of Al-Hindyia and AL-Abbasyia river (branches of Euphrates River in Iraq). Two sites in each river have been chosen for this purpose, site S1 was located at Al-Hindyia River and S2 at Al-Abbasyia River. Some kinds of biological indices were used in this study, comprising the percentage of oligochaetes in benthic invertebrates, ranged from 20.3-60.16%. While the percentage of Tubificidae within benthic invertebrates was close 43.3-43.9%.Index of pollution D ranged from 0.13-0.21. The maximum percentage of aquatic oligochaetes to insects larvae of family
... Show MoreMany stone tools were found on a hill south of the Hor Al-Dalmaj which is located in the central part of the alluvial plain of Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The types of rocks from which the studied stone tools were made are not found in the alluvial plain, because it consists of friable sand, silt, and clay. All existing sediments were precipitated in riverine environments such as point bar, over bank, and floodplain sediments. The collected stone tools were described with a magnifying glass (10 x) and a polarized microscope after they were thin sectioned. Microscopic analysis showed that these stone tools are made of sedimentary, volcanic igneous and metamorphic rocks, such as: sandstones, limestones, chert, con
... Show Morewater quality assessment is still being done at specific locations of major concern. The use of Geographical Information System (GIS) based water quality information system and spatial analysis with Inverse Distance Weighted interpolation enabled the mapping of water quality indicators along Tigris river in Salah Al-Din government, Iraq. Water quality indicators were monitored by taking 13 river samples from different locations along the river during Winter season year 2020. Maps of 10 water quality indicators. This meant that the specific water quality indicator and diffuse pollution characteristics in the basin were better illustrated with the variations displayed along the course of the river than conventional line graphs. Creation of
... Show MoreThe Turonian-Lower Companian succession at Majnoon Oil Field is represented by the Khasib, Tanuma, and Saadi formations. Four major paleoenvironments were recognized within the studied succession, there are: Shallow open marine environment, shoal environment, deep marine environment, and basinal environment. They reflect deposition on a carbonate platform of homoclinal ramp setting. The studied succession represents two second order supersequences (A) and (B). Supersequence (A) includes both the Khasib and Tanuma formations. The Saadi Formation represents cycle (B). These second order cycles can be divided each into two third order cycles, This subdivision may reflect the effect of eustacy being the major controlling factor of cycles dev
... Show MoreChar formation is subdivided into three lithological types according to the percentage of detrital quartz and calcite (micrite and sparite), through the petrographic study of 13 thin sections collected from a section at Wadi Al-Ratgha (west of Al-Qaim, Iraq Western Desert). The three rock units are: Limy sandstone, limestone and sandy limestone. Depending on the mean gain size of detrital quartz and degree of sorting and the type of matrix, Ghar Formation can be classified in to three types, i. e. off-shore sediments with low energy environment, near shore sediments with high energy environment and mixed sediments with transitional energy environment. This is due to local transgression and regression of sea level at late lower Miocene du
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