Toxoplasmosis is a widespread infection usually caused by Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) parasite. It occurs in humans and other warm blooded animals, causing severe problems. It was found that there is an alteration in the trace elements concentrations levels associated with some human diseases. This study aimed to investigate the changes in the concentrations of some trace elements (Mg, Fe , Zn, and Cu) in the sera of 60 immunocompetent patients with chronic toxoplasmosis and 82 healthy individuals as a control group. Measuring the serum level of seropositivity rate of anti-T. gondii antibodies was done by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) Kit, while the concentrations of trace elements were measured by absorption spectrophotometry. The copper element showed significant difference between patients and controls with lower average of concentration in seropositive patients than the control. Non-significantly difference was found for this element between females and males of both control and patient groups (p>0.05). Non-significantly difference was found in Mg, Zn and Fe levels between patients and control groups. Such results indicate the significance of additional knowledge of the mineral homeostasis and the regulatory processes during toxoplasmosis infection.
Al-Dalmaj marsh and the near surrounding area is a very promising area for energy resources, tourism, agricultural and industrial activities. Over the past century, the Al-Dalmaje marsh and near surroundings area endrous from a number of changes. The current study highlights the spatial and temporal changes detection in land cover for Al-Dalmaj marsh and near surroundings area using different analyses methods the supervised maximum likelihood classification method, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Geographic Information Systems(GIS), and Remote Sensing (RS). Techniques spectral indices were used in this study to determine the change of wetlands and drylands area and of other land classes, th
... Show MoreThe Paleocene-Early Eocene sequence is represented by Aliji and Umm Er Radhuma formations, while the Middle-Late Eocene sequence is represented by Jaddala and Dammam formations. The Rus Formation has been described and its basin was analyzed separately because it was deposited during the regression period (Middle Eocene), which is a transitional period between these two cycles.
This study includes analysis of the geohistory of this succession, interpretation of the changes of the accumulation, and calculation of subsidence rates. The results were compared with the space available to explain the basin development. The study site included the boreholes of Garraf-84 and 92, Halfaya-1, Nasirya-13 and 40, and Noor-5 at th
... Show MoreThe Early Jurassic (Liassic) sequence crops out in numerous anticlines of the high folded zone of north and north-east Iraq and in the Rutba subzone (including Ubaid Formation) in west Iraq. The present study deals with siliciclastic / carbonate rocks of the 58 m-thick Ubaid Formation at Zor Hauran valley in south western Iraq. The formation consists of two parts; the lower part is composed of pebbly coarse sandstone and greenish to yellowish soft marl alternated with marly dolostone, while the upper part is characterized by light brown, well bedded dolostone, with stromatolite structure in some locations. Oval, light to dark brown nodules of chert are also present.
A detailed field lithological desc
... Show MoreThe climate parameters (rainfall, number of rainy days and temperature) data for about seventy years from 1941 – 2009 for three Iraqi meteorological stations (Diwaniya, Nasiriya, and Kut) were investigated and gave good evidence of climate change. As well as the climatic water balance and the climatic conditions were determined at Karbala meteorological station for the years (1982-2015). The annual precipitation for Karbala station-reflect declination from 105 mm for the period 1982-1990 to about 71 mm for the years 2011- 2015 confirms the effect of global climate change. Analyzing Karbala climate parameters reflects that the total annual rainfall is (89 mm), evaporation is (2984 mm), while the mean monthly relative humi
... Show MoreThe gravity and magnetic data of Tikrit-Kirkuk area in central Iraq were considered to study the tectonic situation in the area. The residual anomalies were separated from regional using space windows method with space of about 24, 12 and 10km to delineate the source level of the residual anomalies. The Total Horizontal Derivative (THD) is used to identify the fault trends in the basement and sedimentary rocks depending upon gravity and magnetic data. The identified faults in the study area show (NW-SE), less common (NE-SW) and rare (N-S) trends. Some of these faults extending from the basement to the upper most layer of the sedimentary rocks. It was found that the depth of some gravity and magnetic source range 12-13Km, which confirm th
... Show MoreGravity and magnetic data are used to study the tectonic situation of Kut- Dewania- Fajir and surrounding areas in central Iraq. The study includes the using of window method with different spacing to separate the residual from regional anomalies of gravity and magnetic data. The Total Horizontal Derivative (THD) techniques used to identify the fault trends in the basement and sedimentary rocks depending upon gravity and magnetic data. The obtained faults trends from gravity data are (N30W), (N60W) (N80E) and (N20E) and from magnetic data are (N30W), (N70E), (N20E),(N10W),(N40E). It is believed that these faults extend from the basement to the lower layers of the sedimentary rocks except the N60W trend that observed clearly in gravity in
... Show MoreThe red palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier, 1790), which belongs to the family Curculionidae, order Coleoptera, is one of the most important palm pests, which leads to heavy losses in date palms. In the last few years, it has been recorded in Iraq, from Safwan city south of Iraq, where it was detected on date palm trees (Phoenix dactylifera L, Arecales: Arecaceae). In the current study, specimens of adult weevils were collected from infested date palms (Phoenix dactylifera), that showed signs of infection in Safwan district, south of Basra province. The results of the investigation showed the presence of phoretic mites associated with the red palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier,
... Show MoreThis study aims to demonstrate the morphotectonic evidence (drainage pattern, formations of sedimentary rocks, structural ridge deformations and spectral reflectance differences…etc.) for tectonic uplift with the syncline zone between two major anticlines, Kirkuk anticline in the northeast and Qara Chauq anticline in the southwest. The study area is located in the low folded zone at the geographical coordinates of 35º 45´ to 35º 55´ North and 43º 30´ to 44º 00´ East. In this study, the tectonic uplift was named as Dushwan uplift, because the uplift of the rocks was adjacent to Dushwan village.
The regional stress, originating from the collision of the Arabian plate with the E
... Show MoreIn the 1970s, the world knew the long-tailed nesokia Nesokia bunnii (Khajuria, 1981) (Rodentia, Muridae) from the Mesopotamian marshes of Garden of Eden in Southern Iraq. This distinct rodent was known from only five voucher specimens collected at the confluence of Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in southern Iraq while its occurrence in Southwestern Iran had
never been reported. In the 1990s, a large extent of its natural habitat was catastrophically desiccated and the animal was last seen in the 1970s. Since then, the status of this elusive rodent was shrouded in mystery. In 2007, an extraordinary photograph of a carcass of this species came to the light from Hawizeh Marsh which was interpreted as concrete evidence of the species’ pers