Background: Gallstone disease (GSD) is a significant global health burden with variable prevalence influenced by metabolic, genetic, and infectious factors. Increasing evidence suggests that Gram-positive bacteria, particularly Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus species, contribute to gallstone pathogenesis through enzymatic activity and biofilm formation. Objectives: To characterize Gram-positive bacteria within gallstones from Iraqi patients, evaluate their biofilm-forming capacity, and analyze the relationship between bacterial colonization, gallstone type, and cholesterol levels. Methods: A total of 100 gallstones were obtained from patients undergoing elective cholecystectomy between October 2024 and March 2025. Stones were aseptically processed for bacterial isolation and identification using selective culture media and the VITEK® 2 Compact System. Serum cholesterol levels were determined by enzymatic colorimetric assay. Biofilm formation was quantified via the 96-well microtiter plate method, and statistical correlations between gallstone type, cholesterol level, and bacterial presence were analyzed. Results: Cholesterol stones (57%) were more prevalent than pigment (40%) and mixed stones (3%). Bacterial growth was observed in 43% of gallstones, with Enterococcus species (31 isolates) predominating over S. aureus (12 isolates). Species-level identification revealed E. faecalis (n= 16), E. faecium (n= 9), and E. gallinarum (n= 6), marking the first reported isolation of E. gallinarum from gallstones. Cholesterol concentrations were significantly higher in sterile stones (median 235 mg/dL) compared to bacteria-positive stones (173-186 mg/dL) (P < 0.0001). Biofilm analysis showed all S. aureus isolates as strong producers, whereas E. faecalis exhibited predominantly moderate-to-strong formation, while E. faecium and E. gallinarum displayed weaker capacities. Conclusion: A significant interplay between microbial colonization and gallstone composition. Strong biofilm-producing Gram-positive bacteria, particularly S. aureus and E. faecalis, may facilitate stone maturation and persistence. The novel isolation of E. gallinarum expands the spectrum of biliary microbiota.
Abstract
The prevention of bankruptcy not only prolongs the economic life of the company and increases its financial performance, but also helps to improve the general economic well-being of the country. Therefore, forecasting the financial shortfall can affect various factors and affect different aspects of the company, including dividends. In this regard, this study examines the prediction of the financial deficit of companies that use the logistic regression method and its impact on the earnings per share of companies listed on the Iraqi Stock Exchange. The time period of the research is from 2015 to 2020, where 33 companies that were accepted in the Iraqi Stock Exchange were selected as a sample, and the res
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This research emerged due to the needs of Iraqi social sector for diagnosing the problems ,finding the appropriate solutions,and exploiting the social opportunities to solve these problems .The research problem focused on raising the following question: "Were Iraqi Managers in the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs able to use their qualifications as social entrepreneurs in the ministry to improve the quality of life of the disadvantaged groups?", In light of that, the importance and objectives of the study were determined, and this research derives its importance from trying to address social problems by measuring the degree of meeting the subjective and objective needs of the custo
The current study aims to identify the feeling of job alienation and organizational commitment among free lecturers in secondary schools, as well as to identify the significance of the differences in the feeling of job alienation according to the gender and the significance of the differences in organizational commitment according to the gender. It also aims to identify the correlation between the feeling of job alienation and organizational commitment. To achieve the objectives of the research, the researcher developed two scales: one consisted of (24) items to measure the vacancy in job alienation and the other consisted of (24) items to measure the organizational commitment. The two tools were applied to a sample of (200) male and fem
... Show MoreThe issue of intellectual capital is a critical issue in the success and excellence of organizations, especially if it is linked to the management of customer experience, and because of the characteristic of the Iraqi environment, which affected all sectors, including the banking sector, it was important to discuss the types of intellectual capital and its relationship to the management of customer experience, especially when managers private banks, the importance of research lies in the linking of its variables to build the strategic capabilities of banks to achieve excellence and sustainability, it aims to diagnose the extent of interest in the types of intellectual capital and management of customer experience in the Iraqi ban
... Show MoreThe research aims to verify the presence of correlation between the financial cycle and the economic cycle in the Iraqi economy. During the research period, the Iraqi economy witnessed a crisis cycle due to the permanent deviations in the state budget and the occurrence of sustainable deficits during the period of the economic blockade with the coincidence of an inflationary economic cycle due to the cheap money policy and the occurrence of Negative supply shocks due to the blockade and the madly high general level of prices, in addition to the weak financial planning of the state budget during the post-economic blockade and the entry of the economy into a stagnant economic cycle due to security and political instability, low levels of priv
... Show MoreThis is the first record of a new species of cyanobacteria Westiellopsis akinetica in the Iraqi environment, Samples were collected on June 2013 and the existence of it was not documented before. We isolated and purified this species ten years ago in Iraq, but we couldn't identify accurately based on all taxonomic handbooks. This is due to the species features being different from the other documented species in the available taxonomic lectures. It resembled many species by morphological characteristics such as Fischerella muscicola, Fischerella thermalis, Westiellopsis biateralis SA16. Westiellopsis interrupta, Westiellopsis persica SA33, Westiellopsis prolifica and Symphyonema bifilamentata. Describing a new species of the Westiellops
... Show MoreThe purpose of this study is to illuminate the role of CBCT in forensic dentistry through variations of mandibular measurements of Bonwill’s triangles in gender determination among the Iraqi population.
In this retrospective study 70 CBCT scans were analyzed to measure the Bonwill’s triangle, 35 for males and 35 for females aged between 20 and 50 years, all data were collected at the oral and maxillofacial radiology department in Ghazi AL-Hariri hospital for 3 months, and the data were obtained using a Kavo CBCT device (3D On De
The study dealt with the design of tourist resting units in the Iraqi Marshes in contemporary design methods while preserving the heritage. The first chapter contained the research problem which is the important event of the inclusion of the Marshes in the World Heritage List. This research is important because it aims to develop the tourist reality of the Marshlands. The second chapter dealt with three sections the first of which is tourism in the marsh environment, the second one dealt with the structure of tourist space and the third dealt with the design methods of the tourist resting units in the Iraqi marshes.
The most important results of the research are the following: the sample models have taken desig
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